To apply the soil classification system according to its capacity for use.

The activity was carried out on 7 December in the canton of Las Naves with 69 students of the aforementioned career, and under the direction of Freddy Amores, a teacher at UTEQ.

In a 2 km walk to a foothill sector, the characteristics of soils of alluvial and colluvial origin and slopes of hillsides were examined in order to evaluate them and classify them into use capacity classes according to their suitability for agriculture.

With this objective, the students carried out repeated sampling at different soil depths, textural determination to the touch, identification of textural changes in different horizons of the profile, determination of soil depth and limiting strata for root development, observation of drainage characteristics, analysis of flood risk, stoniness, slope, erosion risks and drought risk.

In addition, based on previous reports and morphological characteristics of the plants, particularly cocoa and citrus, a hypothesis was formulated about the presence of medium and low available Phosphorus (P) contents in the soil as a limiting factor for production in the area.

At the end of the exercise, the students assigned the tested soils to the following capacity classes examined to the following use capacity classes: II i ((presents risks of flooding)_, II s (limiting fertility and shallow depth), II se (medium fertility, shallow depth and erosion risk) y VII (steepness and excessive stoniness make the soil unsuitable for agriculture).