The significant and negative
functional relationship between PC1 scores and maize DMY (P = 0.015) confirms in a synthetic way the
results provided by bivariate correlation analyses. It can therefore be used as a soil nutrient deficiency
index for assessing site potential suitability for maize cultivation. The higher loading on basic cations and
more specifically Ca indicates that Ca is a very important nutrient that needs to be supplied for successful
crop growth in acid soils. Organic C and total N dominated on PC2 pointing at soil organic matter