The rhizosphere is the habitat of roots.  Thus, rhizospheric soil properties are expected to be better related with plant production.  In the end, the sustainable use of natural resources, food supply for society, and the ecology of the earth's surface are affected.  This hypothesis has been mainly tested for individual properties of specific soil-element-plant combinations, but not globally.  The objective of this research was to evaluate if rhizospheric soil chemical characteristics were closer related to plant growth and mineral nutrition than those of bulk soil.  For this purpose, linear relationships between soil and plant variables for both soil types were compared.  Samples of the 2 soil types were taken from a corn (Zea mays L.) field in the Oyolopampa farm (Ayacucho, Perú), and basic chemical properties and the soluble and available concentrations of all essential mineral...