Name:_________________________________ Date:___________

Year/Course/Section:______________

Exercise No. 1

SOIL SAMPLING FOR CHEMICAL AND PHISICAL ANALYSIS

INTRODUCTION

Soil sampling is the first step in generating field-specific information to make lime and fertilizer
decisions. Selecting an appropriate sampling strategy ensures that the soil in a field is collected in a
manner that produces the most accurate and reliable soil test results. Because soils in agricultural fields
can vary significantly, use a sampling strategy that best captures that variation. Proper sampling is
particularly important when a site-specific management approach is embraced.

OBJECTIVES

At the end of the exercise, the student should be able to:

1. Identify and describe sampling area or lots by their difference in land features
2. Collect a representative soil sampling following the prescribe procedure
3. Know the precautions that should be followed to make the sampling procedure easier and more
accurate

MATERIALS

1. Container – plastic bag (for individual composite samples), plastic pail/bucket (for handling the
soil sub-sample in the field and for mixing the composite sample.
2. Sampling tools – spade, shovel, bolo, soil auger, sampling tube and other digging tools like
trowel, etc.
3. Marking pen, manila paper

METHOD

A. Make a sketch showing the location of the farm. Identify the land use including the boundaries.
Draw this in your worksheet.
B. Obtaining a Representative Sample
 1. Divide your farm into sampling area. Group together areas showing uniformity in texture, color,
crop grown, source of water, topography, etc. Based on topography, the figure below need six
soil sample.

2. Take 10-30 sub-samples from each sampling areas at interval of 15-20 steps.
3. At the sampling spot, follow these steps by using a spade or shovel:

A) Cut the weeds close to the ground but do not scrape the surface of the soil,
B) Remove any stone before taking the sample,
C) Make a V-shape hole on the spot to secure a slice on one side,
D) Get the sample from the middle of the slice. The slice should be as uniform as possible and
should have a dimension of 1”x1”x6”. This is now your sub-sample, and
E) Mix sub-sample thoroughly. Avoid contamination with sweat.

Processing the Collected Sample

Obtain a composite sample. Spread the sub-sample in a clean manila paper on a table or drying
board. Divide the soil into four. Take care on one part and discard the other three parts. Further divided
the remaining one part into four retaining one part and throwing away the other parts until
approximately one kilogram of soil is left. This process is known as quartering. The soil left after this
process is now your composite sample.

Air drying – The composite sample should be allowed to dry under a safe well-ventilated shed
free from contamination due to rain, animal and human beings. Do not under the sun. Air drying within
a week depending the moisture content of the soil sample
 Pulverizing - As soon as the sample is air dried, pulverize the soil with the use of a clean mortar
and pestle if available. Otherwise, pulverize the soil with the use hard wood, wooden or rubberize
mallet or clean bottle.

Sieving - Remove foreign materials like roots, stone and other non-soil particles. Separate
pulverized soil with a 20-mesh sieve (screen with 20 holes/square inch).

Packaging and labeling – As soon as the sample are sieve, put the soil into a plastic or paper
bag. Place the necessary label on the top of the soil and tie the plastic bag. The following information
should be place in the label:

1. Name of the farmer

2. Address of the farmer
3. Location of the area (barangay, town, province)
4. Area representative in hectare
5. Topography (plain, rolling)
6. Crop grown or to be grown)
7. Soil analysis desired

Bring the soil sample to a soils laboratory for analysis.

Normally, an area should be sample every three to four years for fertilizer recommendation
purposes. However, it may be done more often when one shifts from one crop to another. In research,
soil sapling and analysis must be done at the beginning and the end of the cropping. This is to monitor
the changes in the soil chemical and physical properties due to fertilizer and other factor under
consideration.

REFERENCES:

Jackson, M.L. 1967. Soil Chemical Analysis. New Delhi: Prentice Hall of India Pvt. Ltd. Pp10-37.

Miller, R.W. and R.L. Donahua. 1995. Soil I Our Environment. 7 th ed. Englewood Cliff, New Jersey:
Prentice –Hall Inc. pp.343-373.

PCARRD. 1980. Standard Method of Analysis for Soil, Plant Tissue, Water and fertilizer, Los Banos,
Laguna. pp. 1-6.

Peverill, K.I., L.A. Sparrow and D.J. Reuter. 1999. Soil Analysis and Interpretation Manual. Colllingwood,
VIC 3066, Australia: CSIRO Publishing. pp.35-50.

Plaster, E.J 1996. Soil Science and Management. 3 rd ed. Albany, New York Delmar Publisher Inc. pp. 210-
217.

Tisdale, S.M.; W.L. Nelson; and J.D. Beaton. Soil Fertility and Fertilizer. New York: Macmillan Publishing
Company. pp 548-576
Walsh, L.M. and J.D. Beaton. 1973. Soil Testing and Plant Analysis. USA: Soil Science Society of America,
Inc. pp.67-75.

Questions

1. What are the objectives of soil test?

2. Taking the soil sample correctly is very critical in fertilizer recommendation. Why?

3. Enumerate the precaution in soil sampling/handling.

4. When should soil sampling be done?

5. State the principal sources of variability in soil chemical analysis.

Worksheet 1. Soil Sampling Information Sheet

Name of the Farmer ___________________ Mailing address _________

Date of Sampling ___________________ Date Submitted _________

Location of Farm ___________________

Area Representation (ha) ___________________

Topography Plain_______________ Rolling ______ Hilly______

Previous Crop (s) ___________________

Fertilizer applied to previous crops: (amount and kind) ______________________________

Lime applied (date and amount) ________________________

Crop & Variety to be fertilized__________________

Yield/ha ____________________

Location in the Landscape: Plain:_______________ Side slope: Summit :____

Profile: Depth (cm) __________________________

Soil Color: __________________________

Analysis desired:

_________ pH

_________ Organic matter

_________ Available phosphorus

_________ Exchangeable potassium

_________ Cation exchange capacity

_________Nitrogen

_________ Other (specify)