DESIGNING MAPS AND ASSESSING SOIL DEGRADATION SERVING HLILL SOIL IMPROVEMENT WORK IN PHUC THUAN COMMUNE – PHO YEN DISTRICT – THAI NGUYEN

Abstract

In the commune of Phuc Thuan - Pho Yen district, perennial crops are mostly grown on barren soil with the height between 20 - 200 meters away from the sea level, from 3.8 to 4.4 pHKCl ranging in accordance with the requirements of growth and development of tea plants. However, humus, N, K, P in the soil are low (poor and middle level) causing negative factors in crop yields. Due to the long period of cultivation  plus the  ignorance of people on how to manage and improve the soil, it is the main culprit of making soil worse. Thus, with the advantages of geographic information system (GIS), the authors applied MapInfo software into designing maps of degradation assessment basing on suitable criteria for the evaluation criteria on soil degradation as well as proposing improvement solutions, using the soil properly. Through the process of building soil degradation map with 05 criteria, there has identified 11 soil units in an area of 668.03 hectares of soil degrading according to different levels. The study of the subject has important practical significance in the planning, management and usage of land for wet rice from now to 2025 in the commune.