Mapping Soil Fertility in Ecuador

Period of Performance

April 2021 - October 2022

Digital map of chemical fertility of soils of continental Ecuador. Credit: Alliance Bioversity-CIAT and MAG, 2022.

The Mapping Soil Fertility in Ecuador service, in collaboration with the Ecuadorian Ministry of Agriculture, generated high-resolution (30 m) digital soil maps of key nutrients for agricultural development by combining environmental variables with soil-collected data using digital soil mapping (DSM) approaches. For the DSM, this service used information such as the geopedological map, soil profiles, geomorphology, land use and cover map, as well as the digital elevation model with a 30 meter spatial resolution, maps and/or climate data (temperature, precipitation), and satellite images. Maps developed by this service will be used by the Ministry of Agriculture to support its efforts to maintain rural soil fertility, increase productivity and prevent contamination with an overall goal of contributing to reduced soil desertification and soil degradation in Ecuador. Data from this service’s DSM approaches will be used to generate a soil degradation map, which will also include information on soil organic carbon, hydrological erosion, and the chemical and biological degradation of agro-ecosystems.

Rationale

The Ministry of Agriculture of Ecuador is coordinating a national plan for participatory management of soil conservation and restoration. The plan fosters collaboration among various actors to diagnose the status of soil conservation and restoration and implement an action plan that contributes to issues associated with the management and use of soils to ensure food security and sovereignty, reduce poverty rates, and conserve Ecuador’s ecosystem services.