Geoderma 141 (2007) 332 – 340

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Impact of effective soil volume on growth and yield

of rubber (Hevea brasiliensis)
D.V.K. Nageswara Rao ⁎, M.D. Jessy
Crop Management, Rubber Research Ins of India, Kottayam — 686009, India
Received 22 August 2006; received in revised form 19 June 2007; accepted 26 June 2007
Available online 22 August 2007

Abstract

Soil is a three dimensional body that is exploited by plant roots to extract water and nutrients. Depending on the conditions of soil development, part of
the soil volume may be occupied by coarse fragments, which cannot be penetrated by plant roots. In a part of one study, we applied factor analysis to the
available soil survey data to understand the basic relationship among soil properties and soil qualities using sand, silt, clay, coarse fragments (2 to 50 mm
size) and depth. Subsequent to analysis of regression of available water capacity (AWC) on factor scores, we then utilized the results to evaluate the role of
effective soil volume (ESV) on the plant performance in terms of growth and yield of rubber. Sixty two soil series, which are under rubber plantations in
traditional region of cultivation in India, had varied weighted means of coarse fragment content ranging from less than 15 to 81% by volume along with
variation in other soil properties too. Factor analysis extracted two factors, which described a total variance of 72%. The first factor was named as ‘surface
area factor’ (that described 46% of variance) to which sand fraction was negatively related while silt and clay were positively related. The second factor
was identified as ‘soil water availability factor’ (that described 26% variance) to which coarse fragments were negatively related whereas depth showed a
positive relation with the same. AWC regressed on the scores of both the factors significantly indicating the most likely influence of soil texture, coarse
fragments and depth on the availability of water, obviously along with plant nutrients when soil water is regarded as soil solution.
Results of analysis of data generated in Part II of the study indicated that increased FLESV (first layer effective soil volume, corresponding to the
depth of 0–11 cm) increased the growth of rubber trees observed during second, third, fourth, fifth and seventh year after planting with correlation
coefficients (Pearson's) 0.432⁎⁎, 0.383⁎, 0.321⁎, 0.357⁎ and 0.325⁎ respectively (⁎ and ⁎⁎ indicate significance at 5 and 1% level, respectively). During
the second year of growth, a significant correlation was observed between growth and ESV at 0–22 cm (r = 0.366⁎) as well as 0–44 cm (r = 0.346⁎).
Rubber latex yield was found to be influenced by the FLESV (First Layer Effective Soil Volume) only that is the surface 0–11 cm layer (r = 0.381⁎).
The present fertilizer recommendations for rubber plants do not take the effective soil volume into account. Generally the properties measured
in b2 mm soil fraction are taken into consideration and rating charts for advisory purposes are prepared based on the STCR (soil test crop
response) studies and rubber nutrition also follows the suit. In the future, the effective soil volume should be considered for development of
fertilizer recommendations for rubber in a field where coarse fragments comprise a significant portion of soil.
© 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Effective soil volume; Factor analysis; Regression; Factor scores; First layer effective soil volume; Growth; Rubber latex yield

1. Introduction energy, plant nutrients and vegetation (Rezaei and Gilkes,

A soil's potential for producing crops is largely determined
by the environment that the soil provides for root growth. Roots
need air, water, nutrients and adequate space to develop. Soil
physical properties and in turn plant growth are significantly
controlled by variation in landscape attributes including slope,
aspect, and the elevation, which influence the distribution of
⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 481 2353311; fax: +91 4812353327.
E-mail address: dvknrao@gmail.com (D.V.K.N. Rao).
0016-7061/$ - see front matter © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2007.06.015
2005a). Due to this relationship geomorphic information has
long been routinely used in soil mapping as a stratifying factor
(Pachepsky et al., 2001). Contrary to many soil chemical
properties that are of dynamic nature, soil physical properties
range from quite constant to quite dynamic. For instance, soil
texture and soil depth are expected to be constant during a short
or medium time period (Rezaei and Gilkes, 2005a).
Soil is a three dimensional natural body that is exploited by
plant roots. Depending on the conditions of soil development, part
of the soil volume is occupied by gravel, a non-soil material.
 D.V.K.N. Rao, M.D. Jessy / Geoderma 141 (2007) 332–340
Gravel is the term used to denote soil particles of size ranging from
2 to 75 mm along the greatest diameter (Brady, 2000). As was
stated by Krishnan et al. (1996), plant growth is directly affected
by the presence of gravel by impeding root development and
seedling emergence and indirectly through reduction of the
volume of soil that can be drawn upon by plants for water and
nutrients. In a study on the performance of rubber plants in terms of
growth Dea et al. (2001) found that presence of gravel-containing
horizons close to the surface renders their structure less suitable to
rooting and liable to restrict root and vegetative growth. According
to Rezaei and Gilkes (2005a), water retention capacity is a function
of soil texture, bulk density and organic matter and strongly related
to soil profile effective thickness (SPET), which is defined and
measured as the equivalent soil depth consisting of b 2 mm
particles that provides the available water and nutrients to plants.
A massive survey and mapping (in 1:50,000 scale) of soils
under commercially grown rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) in
traditional regions of Kerala and Tamil Nadu states of India
was taken up during late 90's for assessing the suitability of soils
under existing rubber plantations, refining the basis for
discriminatory fertilizer recommendations and identifying
areas suitable for taking up future expansion schemes. A total
of 62 soil series were identified subsequent to study of a total of
5836 soil profiles covering about 0.9 million ha and soil
chemical and physical characterization of the typifying pedons
of 62 soil series was documented (NBSS and LUP, 1999). Now,
a volume of data on different soil series supporting rubber
(H. brasiliensis) is available, which could be explored to under-
stand the basic interrelationships among various soil properties.
Some of the soil physical properties are recognized for their
important role in supporting the plant growth and one of the
important soil physical properties is coarse fragment content, the
volume of which dilutes effective soil volume (ESV). Awork plan
was implemented in two parts to understand the basic relationship
among soil properties and soil qualities by factor analysis using
the available data sets, with special emphasis on important soil
physical properties and to evaluate the role of coarse fragments on
the growth and yield of rubber, in a separate field experiment.
2. Methods and materials
2.1. Part I—Study of relationships among soil properties using
soil resource data
2.1.1. Study area surveyed and mapped
The area of survey was restricted to the rubber-growing tracts
of Kerala and Kanyakumari districts of Tamil Nadu of India. The
survey area lies between 75° 10' E and 77° 30' E longitudes and 8°
15' and 12° 35' N latitudes. In Kerala, the rubber plantations
appear in an area with an elevation of 30 to 450 m, mostly in the
midlands and to a small extent in the lower portion of highlands. In
Tamil Nadu, rubber is grown in Kanyakumari district. The major
geological formations of the area and their chronological
succession are as follows: Crystalline rocks of Achaean age,
Sedimentary rocks of Tertiary age, Laterites capping the
Crystalline and Sedimentary rocks and Recent and Sub recent
sediments. The survey area has been divided into three broad
333
physiographic divisions—lowlands, midlands and highlands. The
lowlands start from the seacoast and extend eastward to elevations
of about 20–30 m; the midlands comprise the land at 30–300 m.
The numerous isolated hillocks some of them extending 300 m are
seen in the midlands. The highlands lie above 300 m.
The climate of the survey area may be termed as humid tropical.
The rainfall in the survey area ranges from about 2000 mm to
nearly 5000 mm. Rainfall is received from both the southwest
monsoon (June to September) and the northeast monsoon
(October to December) with about 60% of the rainfall being
received during the southwest monsoon. Annual rainfall is higher
in the central and northern portions of the tract than in the southern
portion. The mean annual temperature is almost uniform in the
survey area ranging from 27.1 °C to 27.8 °C. The potential
evapotranspiration (PET) ranges from 1688.3 to 1729.5 mm. In
general PET exceeds rainfall from December to April in the
southern part and from November to April in northern part of the
survey area (NBSS and LUP, 1999).
Strongly sloping (10–15% slope) soil units occupy about
38% of the study area while moderately steeply sloping (15–
25% slope) and moderately sloping (5–10% slope) soil units
cover about 24% and 18% of area respectively. Very gently
sloping, gently sloping and very steeply sloping units cover 9.5,
7.4 and 3.1% of the study area respectively (NBSS and LUP,
1999). Rubber growing soils in this part of India are mostly fine
gravelly (2–5 mm diameter) to medium gravelly (5–20 mm
diameter) (Soil Survey Division Staff, 1995) and are of mainly
iron stone and laterite. About 10% under rubber plantations had
gravel contents of less than 15% while 35% area had coarse
fragments in the range of 15–34%. Fifty four percent of the area
contained 35–60% gravel while 7% area had a gravel content of
61–80% (NBSS and LUP, 1999).
2.1.2. Statistical analysis of data on characterization of soils
Initially, weighted means of important soil physical properties
namely sand, silt, clay, and coarse fragments were calculated from
the data sets describing 62 soil series. The weighted means were
used for comparison of different profiles with unequal number of
soil horizons since horizon to horizon comparison is difficult, as
was described by Webster (1977). The weighted means were
calculated by dividing the sum of products of the values of a given
soil property and thickness of soil horizon with the depth of soil
profile. The data matrix comprising weighted means of above soil
properties and depth in cm was subjected to simple correlation
study to identify the relationships among soil properties and factor
analysis to find out the latent structure of data on soil properties
(Tabachnick and Fidell, 2001) and interpreted.
2.2. Part II—Field experiment to evaluate the impact of gravel
on growth and yield of rubber
2.2.1. Lay out
An experiment was laid out at Kodumon Rubber Estate,
Kerala State of India in 1989. The central coordinates of the
study area were 9° 10' 05.2” N and 76° 48' 26.5” E. The
experimental area was situated on a relatively plain land within
an undulated terrain with a gentle slope in all directions from
334 D.V.K.N. Rao, M.D. Jessy / Geoderma 141 (2007) 332–340

approximately the midpoint of the study area where it was ized Block Design) with three replications. The soils of the
slightly raised. The total area of 2.25 ha was selected for the experimental area were Ustic Kanhaplohumults. There were 13
present study and the study area was surrounded by bulk rubber treatments with selected combinations of nitrogen, phosphorus
plantation. The design of the experiment was RBD (Random- and potassium that is three levels of N (30, 60 and 90 kg ha− 1

Fig. 1. Lay-out map of field experiment with rubber to test the impact of ESV on growth and yield.
 D.V.K.N. Rao, M.D. Jessy / Geoderma 141 (2007) 332–340 335

Table 1
year− 1), two levels of phosphorus (30 and 60 kg ha− 1 year− 1) Important soil properties of different soil series
and two levels potassium (20 and 40 kg ha− 1 year− 1) and a
No. Soil series Sand Silt Clay CF AWC Depth
control without fertilizer application (Fig. 1).
Polybag plants of clone RRII105 were planted at a spacing of % mm m− 1 cm
4.9 × 4.9 m. The gross plot size was 24 trees, and net plot size 1 Anakkattur 41.2 10.3 48.6 56 81 160
was 8 trees. Urea, rock phosphate and muriate of potash were 2 Angel valley 34.6 19.3 46.1 51 85 151
3 Ittiyappara 37.3 16.7 46.0 42 63 150
applied as source of N, P and K respectively. All the nutrients
4 Kairadi 43.7 16.2 40.1 10 92 151
were supplied in two equal splits during April–May and 5 Kodayar 38.5 9.5 52.0 43 93 155
September–October every year. Mucuna bracteata was main- 6 Kongad 34.4 17.1 48.1 5 141 155
tained as cover crop during the immature phase. All the cultural 7 Kunthirakkamudi 37.5 14.1 48.3 43 108 160
operations were carried out as per the recommendations of the 8 Lahai 31.6 13.9 54.5 15 119 138
9 Manjalloor 41.5 12.0 46.6 51 83 151
Rubber Board, India (Punnoose et al., 2000).
10 Mekkadembu 18.1 27.5 54.4 0 116 151
11 Paiyavoor 35.0 18.9 46.1 5 109 150
2.2.2. Girth data 12 Thrikkannamangal 31.3 9.3 59.4 39 94 152
Girth, the diameter of the rubber tree trunk was used as the 13 Arur 29.0 18.9 52.2 46 64 127
plant growth parameter. It is usually measured as DBH 14 Chungappara 39.7 15.6 44.7 48 48 73
15 Edannur 32.4 13.3 54.3 25 63 62
(diameter at breast height) that is 150 cm from the highest
16 Enathu 42.2 13.8 44.1 49 17 40
point of bud union between stock and scion (Dijkman, 1951). 17 Ezallur 40.2 13.2 46.7 46 69 130
Bud union is defined as the point at which the bud from a scion 18 Kadamband 37.2 11.6 51.3 60 43 100
plant is grafted on the root stock plant (Dijkman, 1951). The 19 Kaipuzha 41.7 10.8 47.6 55 47 71
girth was recorded every year in all the 13 treatments (with three 20 Kallurkad 28.7 22.9 48.4 48 47 73
21 Koluthuruthi 36.9 13.4 49.8 46 59 117
replications) on eight plants in the net plot from second to
22 Koothattukulam 42.1 10.8 47.1 51 20 89
seventh year of growth or planting (1991 to 1996) during the 23 Koruthode 40.1 15.5 44.4 37 69 87
period between December and January except 1994 where the 24 Kunnam 40.6 19.4 40.1 42 43 70
girth was measured during September because of labor related 25 Kurathikkad 35.8 15.9 48.3 58 44 120
problems in the rubber plantations. These data sets were used in 26 Manimala 39.8 16.1 44.1 47 21 40
27 Matappally 43.3 13.0 43.7 68 27 60
the present study to assess the impact of effective soil volume
28 Panachikkad 32.8 10.2 57.0 54 49 136
on the growth of rubber plants. 29 Pandappally 34.9 17.2 47.7 55 36 65
30 Thiruvanchoor 32.1 11.0 56.9 56 54 132
2.2.3. Yield data 31 Tulappally 35.1 17.8 47.0 47 65 133
The trees attained tapping stage in 1997 (that is during eighth 32 Chandanikunnu 49.3 10.0 40.7 34 60 57
33 Cheruvally 44.3 9.7 46.0 43 78 84
year of planting) and monthly yield recording commenced from
34 Kaloor 54.5 7.7 37.8 37 64 78
1998 (corresponding to ninth year of planting) onwards. 35 Kottangal 47.1 22.4 30.5 44 63 117
Tapping system followed was 1/2S d/4, a notation used to 36 Kunnathupuzha 44.8 13.1 42.2 22 41 61
designate the exploitation system, which meant tapping from 37 Kunnathur 47.9 9.4 42.8 60 32 130
half spiral cut on the trunk once in fours days (Vijayakumar 38 Mannanam 48.7 11.0 40.3 54 58 95
39 Neriyamangalam 55.5 8.8 35.7 37 35 62
et al., 2000). In the present study, the sum of monthly yield
40 Palkulam 48.9 10.3 40.9 66 32 74
recorded for one year to cover one weather cycle (from June 41 Peruva 54.9 8.6 36.5 45 8 19
1999 to May 2000) that is sum of 12 yield recordings (on a fixed 42 Thambalakkad 47.7 10.4 41.9 43 19 28
date in every month) was utilized to explore the relation 43 Thombikandom 51.1 20.1 28.8 43 27 77
between yield and effective soil volume. 44 Valoor 58.0 7.1 34.8 45 22 34
45 Vanchimala 59.0 7.7 33.3 42 23 36
46 Vazhoor 49.4 15.0 35.6 50 31 53
2.2.4. Effective soil volume 47 Anayadi 49.2 8.0 42.8 10 104 150
An 11 cm long metal core with radius of 2.86 cm was driven 48 Chelikkuzhi 53.5 8.5 38.0 20 105 96
into the soil in stepwise sequence to collect soil samples at 0– 49 Chingavanam 50.2 11.4 38.4 45 88 176
11, 11–22, 22–33 and 33–44 cm depth separately from all 39 50 Chunakkara 59.5 6.6 34.0 51 44 158
51 Kalladikkode 52.9 10.9 36.2 29 61 151
plots. The soil samples were collected from the midpoint of all
52 Kallullathodu 81.0 7.9 11.2 0 62 152
the 39 experimental plots as shown in Fig. 1. Using a 2 mm 53 Kanjirappally 54.9 8.2 36.9 38 77 150
sieve, soil material from each core was washed under running 54 Kinalur 48.1 14.9 37.0 13 99 80
tap water to retain soil fraction larger than 2 mm. The volume of 55 Mailam 50.9 10.4 38.8 23 85 135
coarse fragments was measured by displacement method in a 56 Manaloddi 48.8 7.9 43.3 27 116 150
57 Pallippady 46.7 12.0 41.3 14 94 152
known column of water and expressed as percent volume. From
58 Pathanamthitta 50.5 8.7 40.8 10 36 50
the volume of coarse fragments present in a known volume of 59 Perambra 54.9 10.1 35.0 18 118 116
core, the ESV (m3) per tree in each layer was calculated by 60 Pullangode 47.1 11.9 41.0 23 72 150
subtracting the measured volume of coarse fragments present in 61 Vallikkode 54.0 2.2 43.8 5 99 175
a soil volume equal to the product of 24.01 m 2 and 62 Vijayapuram 53.7 8.9 37.4 20 59 151
corresponding depth of layer in meters. The cumulative ESV CF = coarse fragments; AWC = Available water capacity.
336 D.V.K.N. Rao, M.D. Jessy / Geoderma 141 (2007) 332–340

Table 2 available water content and soil depth (0.714⁎⁎). The cor-
Factor analysis with varimax rotation relation clearly showed the negative effect of coarse fragments
Component Communality on available water capacity thus highlighting the need to con-
1 2 sider the effective soil volume for practical management. It was
Sand − 0.994 0.015 0.989 observed that soil depth also influenced the availability of water
Silt 0.660 −0.006 0.436 in positive terms. According to Sehgal (1990) the AWC was
Clay 0.876 −0.018 0.768 directly related to coarse fragments, soil depth and mineralogy
Coarse fragments 0.226 −0.797 0.687 of clay.
Depth 0.193 0.818 0.706
Eigen value 2.284 1.301
Variance (%) 45.7 26.0 3.1.2.2. Factor analysis. Factor analysis extracted two factors
Cum variance (%) 45.7 71.7 (Table 2). The first factor had an Eigen value of 2.284 and
described the variance in the soils to the extent of about 46%
while the second factor had an Eigen value of 1.301 and
at 0–11, 0–22, 0–33 and 0–44 cm depth was calculated and described the variance to the extent of 26. The total variance that
utilized for analysis. factor analysis described was 72%. Sand was negatively related
to the first factor while silt and clay were positively related to it.
2.2.5. Analysis of data The coarse fragment content was negatively related to second
Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated for mean factor while soil depth showed a positive relation to it.
girth, total plot yield and effective soil volume at 0–11, 0–22,
0–33 and 0–44 cm depth layers. Similarly, curve fitting was 3.1.2.3. Regression of available water capacity on factor
attempted to regress rubber latex yield on ESV to describe the scores. Table 3 showed the regression of AWC on the scores of
influence of coarse fragments on the plant performance in factors 1 and 2. The regression was highly significant ( p b 0.001)
quantitative terms. with an R2 value of 0.731. The regression coefficients also were
All the statistical analyses were performed using SPSS found to be highly significant ( p b 0.001) for both factors 1 and 2
(Statistical Package for Social Sciences) software and Curve (Table 3). Fig. 2 depicted the distribution of different soils with
Expert. corresponding factor scores. Four groups of soils were found
with different factor scores and AWC. The 62 soils series were
3. Results and discussion arranged into four groups characterized by positive and positive
(Group I), positive and negative (Group II), negative and
3.1. Part I—Study of relationships among soil properties using negative (Group III) and negative and positive (Group IV) scores
soil resource data on factors 1 and 2.
Considering the pattern of soil variables those were closely
3.1.1. Weighted means related to respective factors, the first factor was called ‘surface
Weighted means of the selected soil properties namely sand, area factor’ that was negatively related to sand fraction whose
silt, clay, gravel, available water capacity as well as depth mea-
sured in all 62 typifying pedons along with the names of identified
soil series are given in Table 1. The data showed variations in the
properties determined in different soils surveyed and mapped.

3.1.2. Statistical analysis

3.1.2.1. Correlation study. The simple linear Pearson's cor-

relations indicated that sand had significant negative correlation
with silt and clay (− 0.645⁎⁎ and − 0.890⁎⁎ respectively)
(⁎⁎ indicates significance at 1% level). The other correlations
included negative correlation between coarse fragments and
available water capacity (− 0.614⁎⁎) and a positive one between

Table 3
Regression of available water capacity on factor scores
Parameter Unstd. coefficients Std. coefficients t Sig.
B Std. Error Beta
Constant 64.094 2.090 30.668 0.001
Scores on factor 1 6.745 2.107 0.216 3.201 0.002
Scores on factor 2 25.788 2.107 0.827 12.239 0.001
R2 = 0.731. Fig. 2. Scatter diagram of factor scores and AWC.
 D.V.K.N. Rao, M.D. Jessy / Geoderma 141 (2007) 332–340 337

Table 4 highest ESV. In the layer of 0–44 cm, the minimum value for ESV
Means and standard deviations of ESV (m3) measured at different depths was 7.81 m3 and maximum was 8.83 m3.
Treatments 0–11 cm 0–22 cm 0–33 cm 0–44 cm
Mean S.D. Mean S.D. Mean S.D. Mean S.D. 3.2.2. Plant growth
N0–P0–K0 2.07 0.05 4.11 0.15 5.98 0.15 7.91 0.06 The data on plant growth, expressed in terms of girth (cm),
N30–P30–K20 2.14 0.31 4.03 0.50 5.82 0.70 7.81 1.05 measured during second year through seventh year of planting
N30–P30–K40 2.26 0.04 4.58 0.15 6.62 0.21 8.83 0.16 were presented in Table 5. There were variations in the growth
N30–P60–K20 2.28 0.22 4.23 0.34 6.25 0.21 8.10 0.26 among replications and treatments. There was a progressive
N30–P60–K40 2.25 0.07 4.58 0.34 6.57 0.48 8.52 0.55
increase in growth with age in all the treatments and replications.
N60–P30–K20 2.21 0.23 4.28 0.46 6.18 0.63 7.95 0.93
N60–P30–K40 2.26 0.09 4.21 0.30 6.07 0.31 8.01 0.29
N60–P60–K20 2.15 0.29 4.45 0.52 6.56 0.80 8.67 1.23 3.2.3. Rubber latex yield
N60–P60–K40 2.14 0.35 4.30 0.63 6.33 0.88 8.23 1.16 As seen in growth, total yield of rubber latex (ml) also showed
N90–P30–K20 2.09 0.19 4.24 0.38 6.29 0.54 8.06 0.22 variations both within and between treatments. The lowest sum
N90–P30–K40 2.19 0.20 4.28 0.21 6.38 0.25 8.43 0.33
of yield recordings was observed in the first replication plot of
N90–P60–K20 2.14 0.14 4.26 0.26 6.33 0.65 8.33 0.93
N90–P60–K40 2.19 0.11 4.31 0.15 6.50 0.27 8.43 0.23 treatment 8 (900 ml) while the third replication plot under
treatment 7 recorded the highest yield of 2477 ml.

surface area was less while silt and clay were positively related
to this factor whose surface area was obviously more because of Table 5
the size fraction. Similarly, the coarse fragments and soil depth Data on girth (cm) of rubber plants and latex yield (ml)
contributed largely to the second factor that was named as ‘soil Treatment Replication Girth (cm) Sum of latex
water availability factor’. It was inferred from the factor and yield
regression analysis that soil texture, coarse fragments and depth Dec Dec Dec Sep Jan Jan Over
most likely influence the availability of water hence the factors '91 '92 '93 '94 '95 '96 12 months (ml)
were named so. According to Azam-Ali and Squire (2002), in N0–P0– 1 13.3 20.3 28.0 34.0 36.3 43.7 1246
many instances, it is not the soil texture or structure that K0 2 14.4 21.2 29.8 35.8 38.4 45.5 1363
3 13.0 20.1 28.6 35.7 38.6 45.8 1158
determines the amount of water that is available to plants.
N30–P30– 1 16.6 26.1 35.6 41.5 43.5 51.1 1476
Rather it is the ability of the plant roots to descend deeper levels K20 2 15.8 24.1 32.4 38.7 41.3 48.6 1336
in the soil profile and the depth of the soil profile itself. All the 3 18.8 28.1 36.4 43.4 45.0 51.8 1741
analyses showed the potential negative role of coarse fragments N30–P30– 1 15.9 24.7 34.7 41.0 43.0 49.9 2041
in reducing the effective soil volume at a given depth, which K40 2 14.1 22.3 30.5 36.6 39.0 45.9 1630
3 18.1 28.1 36.5 43.4 45.4 52.9 1155
influences the availability of water and obviously nutrients thus
N30–P60– 1 14.0 23.4 33.5 40.9 51.9 49.4 1570
affecting the plant performance. K20 2 15.0 22.9 31.3 38.0 40.2 48.4 1849
3 17.0 27.1 33.0 39.9 44.9 52.9 1473
3.2. Part II—Field experiment to evaluate the impact of gravel N30–P60– 1 13.0 20.5 28.9 34.8 36.8 44.4 1109
on growth and yield of rubber K40 2 14.9 24.5 32.8 39.5 41.5 48.4 1406
3 14.6 22.0 30.4 37.7 39.4 47.0 1311
N60–P30– 1 14.4 22.6 31.9 38.4 40.9 48.2 1494
3.2.1. Effective soil volume K20 2 13.5 19.4 26.4 31.7 33.8 40.2 1156
The effective soil volume was calculated in all the treatments 3 15.2 24.5 32.7 39.3 41.7 48.8 1546
and replications (a total of 13 × 3 = 39 plots) at four depths namely N60–P30– 1 13.7 22.9 34.4 40.8 43.1 51.2 1755
0–11, 0–22, 0–33 and 0–44 cm and the mean and standard K40 2 16.0 25.1 34.5 40.9 43.6 50.4 1803
3 18.9 30.5 39.3 46.8 49.2 57.0 2477
deviation for all the 13 treatments were given in Table 4. The
N60–P60– 1 12.6 20.8 28.8 34.6 36.7 45.2 900
treatment combinations were also shown in the table. It was K20 2 16.7 24.8 32.0 38.4 40.6 47.5 1278
observed that the minimum and maximum values of ESV were 3 17.4 26.3 34.4 41.4 43.6 50.3 1894
associated with one set of treatments whereas minimum and N60–P60– 1 14.4 21.8 31.0 37.5 40.0 48.2 1598
maximum values of standard deviations were associated with yet K40 2 13.5 20.9 30.0 36.8 39.8 47.1 1470
3 16.8 26.1 34.9 42.1 44.6 51.7 1484
a different set of treatments. The minimum and maximum ESV
N90–P30– 1 14.3 22.5 31.7 38.1 40.4 47.9 1480
was measured in the same treatments in all layers except in 0– K20 2 15.6 23.3 30.9 37.2 39.6 46.3 1242
11 cm, which differed from this pattern. However, standard 3 16.5 24.8 34.1 41.4 43.9 52.1 1255
deviations varied all the times without any commonality except N90–P30– 1 13.9 22.3 30.9 36.8 39.2 47.2 1305
between that is 0–33 and 0–44 cm where the lowest value of K40 2 13.4 21.1 29.3 36.5 38.8 46.6 1590
3 14.8 23.2 31.7 38.7 41.2 48.7 1583
standard deviation was measured in T0 (N0P0K0). The expected
N90–P60– 1 14.9 23.2 31.2 37.3 39.6 47.0 1346
ESV in 0–11, 0–22, 0–33 and 0–44 cm layers would be 2.64, K20 2 15.1 24.0 31.8 38.1 40.3 47.6 1517
5.28, 7.9 and 10.56 m3 respectively. But the measured ESV in first 3 14.4 22.1 30.2 37.4 40.0 47.3 1964
layer (0–11 cm) was between 2.07 and 2.28 m3 while it was N90–P60– 1 13.6 21.1 29.4 35.8 38.1 45.7 1471
between 4.03 and 4.58 m3 in the 0–22 cm layer. The lowest ESV K40 2 14.1 21.7 29.9 36.9 39.6 47.1 1391
3 13.8 21.5 29.8 36.1 38.9 46.5 1384
observed at 0–33 cm depth was 5.82 m3 while 6.62 m3 was the
338 D.V.K.N. Rao, M.D. Jessy / Geoderma 141 (2007) 332–340
Table 6
Correlation between effective soil volume and girth of rubber plants
Relationship
Dec '91 vs ESV (0–11 cm)
Dec '91 vs ESV (0–22 cm)
Dec '91 vs ESV (0–44 cm)
Dec '92 vs ESV (0–11 cm)
Dec '93 vs ESV (0–11 cm)
Sep '94 vs ESV (0–11 cm)
Jan '96 vs ESV (0–11 cm)
3.2.4. Statistical analysis
3.2.4.1. Growth data. The results of statistical analysis of data
on effective soil volume and the girth were shown in Table 6. It
was clearly shown that the FLESV (first layer effective soil
volume) that is ESV at 0–11 cm, significantly influenced the
growth during the years of study that is second, third, fourth,
fifth, sixth and seventh years of planting in positive terms. The
Pearson's correlation coefficients were 0.432⁎⁎, 0.383⁎,
0.321⁎, 0.357⁎ and 0.325⁎ (⁎ and ⁎⁎ indicate significance at
5 and 1% level, respectively) (Table 6). The relation between
ESV and girth was positive but insignificant during fifth year of
growth. During the second year of growth, the relationship of
ESV subsurface layers at 0–22 and 0–44 cm with growth was
also significant (‘r’ values 0.366⁎ and 0.346⁎ respectively).
It was seen that from the variance components (Table 7) that
the error variance dominated the treatment impact pointing out
that replication plots were not uniform in a given treatment,
when plant performance was assessed in terms of growth and
yield of rubber. It could be construed with this kind of analysis
that the effect of fertilizer application was much less than the
effect of error thus the effect of treatments could not be detected
because of the huge error variance. It hinted that if graded levels
of fertilizer were applied according to ESV, probably the impact
of fertilizer material on growth would be much higher since the
error due to variable ESV in replications could have been
nullified. The analysis of data showed that coarse fragment
added to the poor performance of plants in terms of growth.
More over it was observed that the fertilizer treatments did not
differ significantly from each other based on a statistic, Tukey's
HSD (Honestly Significant Difference). However, even if the
fertilizer application had got any significant effect, consider-
ation of ESV in analysis should not pose any problem since the
ESV was not influenced by fertilizer application.
3.2.4.2. Yield data. The relationship between effective soil
volume and the yield measured during the year starting from
June 1999 to May 2000 was studied by correlation and
regression studies. The impact of FLESV (first layer effective
soil volume) was significant with an r value of 0.381⁎
(significant at 5% level) while the ESV at other depths did not
exhibit any significant relationship. The variance components in
yield data also suggested that error variance was dominant (81%
of variance described) over treatment impact (19% of variance
described). The explanation given while discussing growth
holds good in this case too. The quadratic equation, rubber latex
yield = 1572.4 − 725.2 × ESV + 313.3 × ESV2 (Fig. 3) showing
regression of rubber latex yield on ESV indicated that increasing
‘r’ ESV contributed to the increase in rubber yield (r = 0.383⁎,
0.432⁎⁎ significant at 5% level). The statistical analysis yielded results,
0.366⁎ which pointed out that increased coarse fragment content was
0.346⁎ contributing to reduced performance of rubber plants in terms of
0.383⁎
yield also.
0.321⁎
0.357⁎ It is well known that coarse fragments reduce the effective
0.325⁎ soil volume that is accessible by plant roots. In the present study
also it was seen that there was 14–22% less than expected soil
volume of 2.64 m3 per tree in the first layer of 0–11 cm thickness
in all experimental plots. Similarly, in the layer corresponding to
0–22 cm thickness also there was 13–24% less than expected
soil volume of 5.28 m3 per tree in all plots. In other layers, that is
at 0–33 and 0–44 cm depth, there was 16–26% less than
expected 7.9 and 10.56 m3 per tree, respectively. However, when
fertilizer materials were applied, this difference in ESV was not
taken into account leading to vitiation in treatments to an extent
of 26%, which is substantial reduction in volume. This
difference was purely because of coarse fragments and must
be one of strong reasons as why the replication plots were not
uniform leading to greater error variance than treatment effect.
Many reports had shown the effect of coarse fragments in
qualitative terms only and not much literature is available re-
garding quantitative assessment of the impact of coarse fragments
on the growth and yield of crops in general and rubber in
particular. Similarly, there were not many reports as to how to
utilize soil survey data that contained both static and dynamic
properties in this terrain where rubber is grown traditionally in
India. In this regard Rao et al. (unpublished) suggested to evaluate
the soil survey data with multivariate statistics using soil pro-
perties that are more or less static like sand, silt, clay, coarse
fragments, available water capacity (AWC) and depth etc. as input
variables. In their interpretation, “available water capacity factor”
identified by factor analysis showed that coarse fragments were
negatively related to the factor while depth and AWC were
positively related, signifying the negative impact of coarse
fragments. The negative role of coarse fragments on the
availability of water was also shown in the present exercise by
means of factor analysis and regression of AWC on factor scores.
Soil profile effective thickness (SPET) was recognized as an
important parameter in determining soil quality, especially in
terms of storage of plant available water and nutrients. Because
SPET was linearly and negatively related to coarse fragments, it
was expected that this variable would exhibit the same
Table 7
Variance components in girth and yield
Year of planting Variance (%)
Treatment Error
Second 13 87
Third 22 78
Fourth 37 63
Fifth 28 72
Sixth 27 73
Seventh 30 70
Yield 19 81
 D.V.K.N. Rao, M.D. Jessy / Geoderma 141 (2007) 332–340
Fig. 3. Regression of rubber latex yield on ESV.
relationship with land attributes. Rezaei and Gilkes (2005a)
quoted that water retention capacity at field capacity and wilting
point and the available water holding capacity were highly
related to slope class. Such observations could be extendable to
rubber growing areas also which are sloppy (NBSS and LUP,
1999). Similarly, rubber growing regions in the states of Kerala
and Tamil Nadu had weighted means of coarse fragments from
0 to 68% with measured contents of coarse fragments up to 81%
indicating the potential limitations posed by the coarse
fragments in the plant performance.
The effect of topography on soil thickness characteristics has
been reported by many researchers (Power et al., 1981; Benny
and Stephens, 1985; McIntosh et al., 2000; Rezaei and Gilkes,
2005a). Benny and Stephens (1985) considered that water
storage capacity and nutrient element pool for plant growth was
a function of depth. With regards to soil chemical properties the
available literature indicated that slope and slope position
significantly affected the movement and accumulation of soil
solution, leading to a variation of soil properties (Tsui et al.,
2004). Similarly, most chemical properties of the top soils at 0–
10 cm topsoil including electrical conductivity (EC), organic
carbon (OC), total N, P and K were related to slope gradient
(Rezaei and Gilkes, 2005b). These kinds of observations could
be applicable to rubber growing soils in this kind of sloppy
terrain also.
3.3. Significance of effective soil volume
The present study clearly indicated the positive role of
effective soil volume on the rubber plant growth. The FLESV
showed a significant relationship with growth during all the
years (except fifth year). The ESV at 0–22 and 0–44 cm also
showed a significant correlation with growth but only during
second year of planting. The positive correlation of FLESV may
have occurred because of presence of majority of fine roots of
339
rubber in the top layer in the soil profile. According to Jessy
(2004) about 66% of fine roots of rubber plants are present
within the top 10 cm. It could be inferred from this data set that
high rates of rubber plant growth occurred on soils with high
FLESV.
As far as the regression of yield on ESV is concerned, this
probably could be the first article to describe the influence of
positive effect of ESV on rubber latex yield in quantitative
terms. The latex flow is directly related to the soil moisture
conditions and any hindrance in the availability of soil moisture
affects latex yield. Devakumar et al. (1988) reported that lower
rubber latex yield during a period of soil moisture stress was the
result of lower flow rate and reduced duration of latex flow.
Chandrasekhar (1994) maintained that soil moisture was
significantly and positively related to rubber latex yield. He
suggested that dry rubber content, latex solute potential, latex
vessel turgor pressure 5 min after tapping, predawn leaf water
potential and girth were the system variables responsible for
yield with soil moisture as the driving force. Hence it is certain
that increased coarse fragments reduce the available soil
moisture and thus decrease the growth as well as the rubber
latex yield, when other conditions are kept constant.
Besides the direct impact of coarse fragments on the growth
and yield of rubber, Rao (2006) showed the significant effect of
soil nutrients expressed in volumetric terms that is weight of soil
nutrients present in a volume (ESV) of soil material on rubber
yield in comparison with expression in gravimetric terms that is
weight of soil nutrients present in a unit weight of soil material.
In fact this attempt was in tune with the idea of describing the
soil as a 3D natural body or as a box as was described by
Hartemink (2006), which has a volume. The results of Rao
(2006) certainly hinted a better understanding of the soil–plant
interrelationships when volumetric expression of soil nutrients
was considered than conventionally followed gravimetric
expression of soil nutrients.
340 D.V.K.N. Rao, M.D. Jessy / Geoderma 141 (2007) 332–340
4. Conclusions
The survey of available literature and the interpretation of the
results of present study emphasized that the effect of coarse
fragments within a soil is to decrease the volume of soil capable of
retaining water. The present data clearly showed the negative
relationship between coarse fragment content and growth and
yield of rubber. Since soil resource maps showed the soils under
rubber had high gravel contents, a mechanism is necessary to
consider the coarse fragment volume during fertilizer application
to increase the use efficiency. To accomplish this, Rao and
Vijayakumar (2005) suggested a method of volumetric mea-
surement of coarse fragment content and to calculate the effective
soil volume based on the spacing adopted. This would facilitate to
arrive at the quantity and number of split applcations of fertilizer
to avoid excess application at a given time. Further work however,
is suggested to standardize the methodology for making it a part of
advisory service to farmers.
Consideration of effective soil volume is certainly necessary
in any soil having significant coarse fragment content, for
practical management. This also helps in better understanding
of the basic soil–plant interrelationships when ESV based
volumetric expression of soil nutrient content is considered than
gravimetric expression as the definite advantage was already
shown by Rao (2006). Not much work is known in this line
regarding expression of soil nutrient content in volumetric
terms. Probably an emphasis on considering a soil body as a box
(Hartemink, 2006) in which volumetric soil water is present
with dissolved soil nutrients (volumetric soil properties) in the
same box, is necessary in soil research.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Dr. John L. Kovar, Soil Scientist and Dr.
Tom Kaspar, Plant Physiologist of the National Soil Tilth
Laboratory, USDA, Ames, Iowa, USA for their time and efforts
to read the manuscript and for invaluable suggestions to correct
it. The useful discussions with Dr. K.R. Vijayakumar, Joint
Director of Research, Rubber Research Institute of India,
Kottayam — 686009, India were gratefully remembered by the
first author, which helped in bringing out this research paper.
The keen interest and encouragement given by Dr. N.M.
Mathew, Director of Research, Rubber Research Institute of
India, Kottayam—686009 is gratefully acknowledged.
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