Land suitability of some soils at Wadi Samhuod, Qena governorate, Egypt

Mohammed Al-Saghir, T. M.; Faragallah, M. A.; El-Desoky, A. I.; Sayed, Y. A.

doi:10.21608/aasj.2023.296432

Land suitability of some soils at Wadi Samhuod, Qena governorate, Egypt

Document Type : Research article

Authors

Department of Soils and Water, Faculty of Agriculture, Al-Azhar University, Assiut 71524, Egypt

10.21608/aasj.2023.296432

Abstract

Twenty-nine soil profiles (109 soil samples) representing the different geomorphological units of wadi Samhuod, that located North-West of Qena governorate, Egypt were selected to evaluate their suitability for growing various crops. The soils had coarse texture grades of sand, loamy sand, and sandy loam. The soil salinity varied from nonsaline to highly saline (EC_e 1.1 - 375.0 dS/m) with low values of organic matter (0.03 to 0.79%) and low available amounts of N, P and K. Some of the studied soils are considered as calcareous. The gypsum content in most samples is low, whereas some samples are considered as sodic soils. Two modern programs including the applied system of land evaluation (ASLE) for arid and semi-arid areas and microcomputer land evaluation information system (MicroLEIS) were applied to assess the suitability to grow some crops in these regions. Appling ASLE program verified that the soils of the study area were highly suitable, suitable, moderately suitable, marginally suitable, currently not suitable, and permanently not suitable for 9 field, vegetable crops, fruits and frog crops. The land suitability using MicroLEIS (Almagra model) program indicated that the soils of this area were moderately suitable, marginally suitable, and non-suitable for some crops due to one or more of the limiting factors. The main soil limitations of these soils were coarse soil texture, soil salinity, calcium carbonate and low soil fertility. However, the soil limitations are not permanent and can be improved through following proper management practices.

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