Aggregate Indices Method in Soil Quality Evaluation Using the Relative Soil Quality Index

Table 1

Hierarchy for assessing SQ of RSQI = index.

is even	is odd	SQ	Colour
		Good/excellent () (no degradation)	Green
		Moderate (start degradation)	Yellow
		Poor (degradation)	Orange
		Very poor (strong degradation)	Red
		Hazardous (very strong degradation)	Brown

Note.
(i) When , the levels poor, very poor, and hazardous are overlapped; therefore the hierarchy will consist of only 3 levels; when , the levels very poor and hazardous are overlapped; therefore the hierarchy will consist of 4 levels.
(ii) When in (2) and (3) formulas, RSQI does not have weighting factors.
(iii) Suggestions are the following:
(a) Good/excellent SQ does not need treatment.
(b) Moderate SQ needs to be monitored.
(c) Poor SQ needs to be properly fertilized.
(d) Very poor: hazardous SQ needs appropriate technological treatment for parameters significantly greater than acceptable standard.