Classification and Mapping of Land Productivity, Capability and Suitability for Production Crops in West El-Minia Governorate, Egypt

Abstract

The aim of this work was to classify productivity, capability and suitability indices of soils in west El-Minia Governorate, Egypt. El-Minya Governorate is considered one of the important areas of horizontal expansion in the Upper Egypt. The studied area is covers around 667020 ha and it lies between latitudes of 28°00` and 28°58`N and longitudes of 29°75` and 30°64`E. Nineteen soil profiles were dug to represent the geomorphological units in the studied area. Seven geomorphological units were developed;1-Old river terraces 2-Sand sheets 3-Limestone plateau 4-Peni plains 5-Outwash plain 6-Sand dune 7-Hilly area. In the study area there are two soil orders i.e. Aridisols and Entisols were classified as Typic Torriorthents, Typic Torripsamments and Typic Haplocalcids. Land productivity index classes of the area varies from excellent (C1) to extremely poor (C5) using Riquier etal. (1970). Based on MicroLEIS-CERVATANA model, land capability is grouped into two classes, (S2: good) covers an area of 14.68 % of the total area and the limiting factors are bioclimatic factors and (S3: moderate) covers 81.49% of the total area and the limiting factors are erosion risks, bioclimatic factors, edaphic factors and slope. Twelve crops were selected to evaluate their suitability for agriculture: wheat, maize, potato, sugar beet, cotton, soybean, sunflower, alfalfa, peach, citrus, olive and watermelon. Suitability classes according to MicroLEIS-ALMAGRA model were ranged from soils with suitability (S2) to soils with no suitability (S5) classes depending on soil limitations. The main limitations are soil texture, carbonate content and sodium saturation.

Land Evaluation and Assessment of Land Cover Change Using Geospatial Techniques: A Case Study in West Samlout Area, Egypt.

“…Soil salinity level was slightly saline and moderately saline soils constituted about 13711.36 ha (57.10%) and 8722.34 ha (36.33%), respectively (Table 5 and Figure 6), with very small and scattered areas that were none saline (0.76 %) and highly saline (0.58 %). Our results are in agreement with (Rashed, 2020;Yossif & Taher, 2020;Zakarya et al, 2021). The source of salinity was thought to be caused by the predominance of aridity and the lack of precipitation for most of the year, with the possible exception of rare abrupt flash floods that occur once every few years.…”

“…In connection with the assessment of the land capability, the most severe limitations were coarse texture, effective soil depth and calcium carbonate content followed by salinity conditions. Our results are in agreement with (Azzam, 2016;Mohamed et al, 2019;Rashed, 2020;Yossif & Taher, 2020;Zakarya et al, 2021). Analysis of land suitability is one of the most useful tools for planning and managing land resources, and it is a requirement for sustainable agricultural management (Debesa et al, 2020).…”

“…The examined area which is located in west of El-Minia region is an area of a natural extension for agricultural, manufacturing, and civil activity and can be viewed as a component of this huge undertaking. The most promising desert region in Egypt's western desert that is undergoing land reclamation is thought to be West El-Minia (Rashed, 2020;Yossif & Taher, 2020;Zakarya et al, 2021) predominating in the extraction of groundwater through drilled wells (Moneim et al, 2016;Yousif et al, 2018). In this context, the primary goals of the research were; 1) To delineate the temporal and spatial land cover changes in west Samlout area, El-Minia government, Egypt using new remote sensing data, 2) to assess land capability and land suitability for some agricultural crops.…”

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

“…As this process incorporates expert knowledge and judgment by decision makers at various levels, it is very subjective in nature. Although techniques like Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) incorporate experts' knowledge but fails to address the inherent uncertainty in many factors like soil pH, fertility, etc., which vary continuously over the space, and it is not possible to modeled as it (Prakash, 2003). The process of mapping soil involves identifying the spatial distribution of its physical, chemical, and biological qualities and presenting them clearly to different users.…”