Study on soil water characteristics of tobacco fields based on canonical correlation analysis

In order to identify the principal factors influencing soil water characteristics (SWC) and evaluate SWC effectively, the multivariate-statistical canonical correlation analysis (CCA) method was used to study and analyze the correlation between SWC and soil physical and chemical properties. Twenty-two soil samples were taken from 11 main tobacco-growing areas in Guizhou Province in China and the soil water characteristic curves (SWCC) and basic physical and chemical properties of the soil samples were determined. The results show that: (1) The soil bulk density, soil total porosity and soil capillary porosity have significant effects on SWC of tobacco fiels. Bulk density and total porosity are positively correlated with soil water retention characteristics (SWRC), and soil capillary porosity is positively correlated with soil water supply characteristics (SWSC). (2) Soil samples from different soil layers at the same soil sampling point show similarity or consistency in SWC. Inadequate soil water supply capability and imbalance between SWRC and SWSC are problems of tobacco soil. (3) The SWC of loamy clay are generally superior to those of silty clay loam.