Land suitability analysis for crop cultivation in a newly developed area in wadi al-Natrun, ُEgypt

Abstract EN

The importance of the agriculture sector to the Egyptian economy along with the ever-increasing population emphasize the need for desert land reclamation as a vital key to narrow the food gap resulting from land degradation and the population growth.

Therefore, the objective of this study is to provide the agricultural land use planning for an uncultivated land area (6539 ha) in the southwestern part of wadi Al-Natrun district, Egypt.

In this research, 63 soil augers were sampled in the field based on a grid sampling strategy.

The maps of soil characteristics and the soil mapping units were produced in GIS environment through the interpolation and overlaying processes.

Land suitability assessment was performed using ALESarid-GIS model as a decision support system.

Land suitability maps for different crops were produced.

Results indicated that the soil salinity, exchangeable sodium percent, calcium carbonate content, and soil depth ranged from 0.33 to 59.1 dS/m, 1.49 to 63.58% , 0.47 to 67.1% , and 15 to 200 cm, respectively.

The particle size distribution indicates the dominance of the sand to loamy sand soil texture.

Eight soil mapping units were identified in the study area illustrating the spatial variability of the above mentioned soil properties.

Prediction of land suitability by using ASLEarid indicated that six crops are the most suitable crops to grow in the study area.

These crops are cotton, sunflower, cabbage, barley, sorghum, and watermelon.

Results revealed that more than half of the study area is moderately (S2) to marginally (S3) suitable for each one of these crops.

The output of this research would help decision makers plan the future desert land reclamation projects in Egypt.