ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Soil Sci.
Sec. Plant-Soil Interactions
Volume 5 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fsoil.2025.1621669
This article is part of the Research TopicImpact of Soil Health on Nutritional Quality of Crops and Human HealthView all 5 articles
Assessing crop evapotranspiration and edaphoclimatic variability for Basil (Ocimum Basilicum L.) under ENSO modulated tropical conditions in Colombia
Provisionally accepted
Jose Isidro Beltran-Medina
SOFIANE OUAZAA*Nesrine ChaaliCamilo Ignacio Jaramillo BarriosKelly Johana Pedroza Berrío
Jose Alvaro Hoyos Cartagena
John Edinson Calderón Carvajal- Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria - AGROSAVIA, Centro de Investigación Nataima, Km 9 vía Espinal-Chicoral, 733529, Tolima, Colombia
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Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) is a high-value aromatic crop with growing global demand, and optimizing its yield under tropical conditions is critical for sustainable agriculture. This study aimed to (1) quantify basil crop coefficient (Kc) and evapotranspiration (ETc) via lysimeters and (2) characterize soil physical–chemical variability across three Tolima (Colombia) region sites: Mariquita, Honda, and El Espinal. Crop evapotranspiration, measured via lysimeters, peaked at 7.41 mm day-1 during maturity, with a total crop water requirement of 228.82 mm. Crop coefficients varied dynamically by stage, with values of 0.75, 0.98, and 0.76 during establishment, peak growth, and senescence, respectively. Historical climate analysis revealed a bimodal rainfall distribution modulated by ENSO phenomenon, with El Niño-La Niña phases, with significant impacts on crop water availability. Soil analyses showed that Mariquita soils are higher in total porosity Tp (47.80%), organic matter (2.42 g 100g-1), field capacity FC (31.62%), and available water (3.59%), whereas El Espinal showed higher bulk density (1.65 gr cm-3) and permanent wilting point PWP (21.99%), constraining water availability. Honda soils presented intermediate conditions but were notable for higher cation exchange capacity CEC (9.55 cmol kg-1) and moderate organic matter content (1.56 g 100g-1), supporting balanced nutrient retention. Cultivated plots across sites showed increased phosphorus and copper relative to adjacent natural areas, reflecting fertilization practices. These results highlight the need for precision irrigation scheduling and site-specific soil management to maximize water productivity and yield stability. Our findings provide a baseline for adapting basil production systems to climatic variability in tropical dry regions.
Keywords: Soil Compaction, El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), precision agriculture, OrganicAmendments, Tropical dry ecosystems
Received: 01 May 2025; Accepted: 30 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Beltran-Medina, OUAZAA, Chaali, Jaramillo Barrios, Pedroza Berrío, Hoyos Cartagena and Calderón Carvajal. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: SOFIANE OUAZAA, sofiane.ouazaa@gmail.com
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