Abstract

ROLON GALEANO, Mirelly Paola et al. Availability of Zinc in soils of the Eastern region of Paraguay. Investig. Agrar. [online]. 2023, vol.25, n.1, pp.19-25. ISSN 2305-0683.  https://doi.org/10.18004/investig.agrar.2023.junio.2501726.

Zinc (Zn) is an essential nutrient for plants, and there is limited information on its availability in Paraguayan soils. The objective of the research was to evaluate and classify the availability of Zn in soils of the Eastern region of Paraguay. For this, a database was generated with the results of soil analyses from the FCA-UNA, CIHB-IPTA and FUCAI-UCA laboratories. The concentration of available Zn in soils was classified as "high" (>1.2 mg kg-1); “medium” (0.5 - 1.2 mg kg-1) and “low” (<0.5 mg kg-1), generating a Zn availability map at the district level. The availability of Zn was evaluated at the district and departmental levels, as well as with descriptive statistics parameters. Considering the average Zn levels at the district level, of the 234 districts that make up the Eastern region of Paraguay, 74% of the districts (174 districts) presented a "high" level, 6% a "medium" level (15 districts) and 3% “low” level of Zn (6 districts). Considering the total number of soil samples analyzed (11,395 samples), 79% (9,038 samples) presented "high" levels of Zn, 12% (1,316 samples) presented "medium" levels of Zn, and only 9% (1,041 samples) presented “low” levels of Zn. The national average, considering the 11,395 soil samples, was 6.5 mg kg-1 of Zn, therefore, in 79% of the soils analyzed in the Eastern region there are Zn levels above the critical level of Zn for agricultural activities, forage and forestry production.

Keywords : micronutrients; trace element; heavy metals.

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