The government, through the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG), made available to Salvadoran producers 20 interactive digital maps that show the physical, chemical, and fertility properties of the soils in the six coffee mountain ranges of El Salvador.
The digital maps will be useful for coffee growers, cooperatives, processors, and other people to make decisions about the fertilization of coffee plantations.
The work was designed by the MAG, the National Center for Agricultural and Forestry Technology (Centa), and the international agency Catholic Relief Services (CRS).
The MAG explained that the digital platform contains five maps reflecting the physical properties of the soils, that is, content of sand, clay, total depth, and effective depth. While the remaining eight are soil chemical properties such as pH, effective cation exchange capacity, organic matter, and phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, calcium, and zinc content.In addition, three of them serve as soil texture, erosion risk, and degradation risk maps.
The head of the MAG, Enrique Parada, said that this project began because at first it was reported that the soils had a lot of acidity and only 30% of the fertilizers were used at the time of use.
«This soil map tool will change the reality of our country. We must learn to value it and take advantage of it,» said the official.
For her part, the director of the Salvadoran Coffee Council (CSC), Carolina Padilla, said that the soil is the first system in which the plant lives and it is important to manage it efficiently, so the maps will allow greater production in these lands.
The Government reported that interested producers can access the maps through the site http://centa.gob.sv and can be consulted from computers or cell phones in any area of the country.
The tool will help coffee growers, cooperatives, processors, extensionists, researchers, students, and decision makers to know what the ideal soil for crops is.