Assessing the Spatial Variability of Soil Properties to Delineate Nutrient Management Zones in Smallholder Maize-Based System of Nigeria

Table 4

Principal component analysis and loading coefficient of selected principal components of soil properties.

Principal component		Eigenvalues				Component loading (%)				Cumulative percent (%)				Weight assigned (%)
1		3.9982				23.519				23.519				39
2		3.3029				19.429				42.947				32
3		1.8157				10.681				53.628				18
4		1.1416				6.715				60.343				11
5		0.9428				5.546				65.889
6		0.9016				5.304				71.192
7		0.817				4.806				75.999
8		0.8053				4.737				80.736
9		0.7575				4.456				85.191
10		0.7069				4.158				89.35
11		0.5698				3.352				92.702
12		0.4153				2.443				95.145
13		0.3713				2.184				97.328
14		0.288				1.694				99.023
15		0.1253				0.737				99.76
16		0.0408				0.24				100
17		0				0				100
Principal component loadings for each soil property
	pH	Sand	Silt	Clay	OC	TN	Av.P	Ca^+2	Mg^+2	K^+	Na^+	Zn	Cu	Mn	Fe	EA	ECEC
PC1	0.118	−0.819	0.592	0.506	0.825	0.841	−0.009	0.576	0.392	0.292	0.348	−0.190	0.131	0.054	0.421	−0.246	0.579
PC2	−0.334	0.379	−0.619	0.147	−0.053	0.081	−0.093	0.548	0.594	0.494	−0.491	0.389	0.382	0.448	−0.231	0.727	0.638
PC3	0.426	0.192	0.030	−0.380	−0.320	−0.269	0.058	0.496	0.473	−0.255	0.432	−0.259	−0.112	−0.203	−0.347	−0.288	0.477
PC4	0.402	0.076	−0.133	−0.009	0.070	0.074	0.827	−0.003	−0.169	0.396	−0.138	0.008	0.110	−0.207	−0.048	−0.030	−0.005

Note. OC: organic carbon, TN: total nitrogen, Av.P: available phosphorus, Ca: calcium, Mg: magnesium, Na: sodium, K: exchangeable potassium, ECEC: effective cation exchange capacity, Zn: zinc, Cu: copper, Mn: manganese, Fe: iron, EA: exchangeable acidity, and PC: principal component.