Affectations in Soil Fertility in the Direct Influence Area Downstream of the Grande River: Chone Multiple Purpose Dam in Ecuador

Abstract

The agricultural activity in Chone is of utmost importance to its inhabitants, it is one of the main economic activities in the area, which is characterized by the production of cultivated pasture, cocoa, banana, corn and other agricultural products that use soil as the main resource. This study determined the evolution of the physical and chemical parameters (pH, electric conductivity, calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sodium) related to the fertility of the soil, downstream from the dam of Grande River, Multiple Purpose Project Chone (direct influence area). The Analysis of data belonging to nine sampling points, was performed by software R, from the linear regression and testing of waste to verify the reliability of the data, this analysis allowed to determine that between 2013 and 2016, in all the ions of study, there is a loss or decline in the initial concentration (year 2013) with respect to the final concentration (year 2016), as in the case of potassium, which presents an average loss of 94.88% up to the year 2016. Additionally, the tendency of the data is increased, indicating that with the passage of time, this will increase, largely affecting the productivity of the soil in the study area.