ٍSOIL TAXONOMY AND EVALUATION MODEL FOR SPECIFIC AGRICULTURE LAND USE OF PHYSIOGRAPHIC UNITS IN THE DESERT ZONE LOCATED ON THE EAST-NORTHERN RIM OF QARUN LAKE, FAYOUM DEPRESSION, EGYPT | ||
| Fayoum Journal of Agricultural Research and Development | ||
| Article 7, Volume 23, Issue 2, July 2009, Pages 65-80 PDF (503.42 K) | ||
| Document Type: Research articles. | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/fjard.2009.197062 | ||
| Authors | ||
| T.S. Abdel Aal1; Y.R.A. Soliman2; A.E. Hassanein2 | ||
| 1Soils and Water Dept., Fac. of Agric., El Fayoum Univ., Egypt | ||
| 2Soils, Water and Environ. Res. Institute, Agric. Res. Center, Giza, Egypt | ||
| Abstract | ||
| The desert zone located on the east-northern rim of Qarun lake represents one of the promising desert outskirt of El Fayoum Governorate whether be under demand for agriculture use or to be future planned projects for later on use. That is true, since it is considered a good model for representing many of the landscape features in El Fayoum depression. So, it selected to be identified within the context of physiography, soil classification and land evaluation for specific agriculture land use. This area includes both the continental alluvium of the Nile and desert sediments that were derived from local parent rocks. The physiographic features were identified, using visual interpretation of Landsat data ETM7 (Enhanced Thematic Mapper 7), according the applied physiographic approach, and found to be as the Nile alluvial terraces, desert alluvial terraces, dissected slopes, aeolian plain, pediplain, bajada, cuesta fronts, cuesta summits and wadis. The later landforms whether are almost flat or gently slopping. The relatively high tableland structures were delineated as dissected cuesta of summits and fronts. Forty-five mini pits were located and studied for setting up a characteristic map legend. The differences were represented by nine soil profiles to be fully described and soil samples were selected for laboratory analyses. Soil taxa were categorized according to the Key of Soil Taxonomy (USDA, 2006) till the soil family level into: i) The Aridisols, soil families are a) Typic Haplocalcids, coarse loamy, mixed, hyperthermic in pediplain unit b) Typic Haplogypsids, coarse loamy, mixed, hyperthermic in bajada unit; c) Soils of wadis unit are found in a complex pattern of Typic Haplogypsids, fine loamy, mixed, hyperthermic and d) Typic Calcigypsids, fine loamy, mixed, hyperthermic in the desert alluvial terraces unit. ii) The Vertisols include a) Chromic Gypsitorrets, fine clayey, semectitic, hyperthermic in the Nile alluvial terraces unit. iii) Entisols include a) Lithic Torriorthents, fine loamy, mixed, hyperthermic in cuesta summits unit; b) Typic Torriorthents, coarse loamy, mixed, hyperthermic in cuesta fronts units; c) Typic Torripsamments, siliceous, hyperthermic in aeolian plain unit and d) Lithic Torripsamments, siliceous, hyperthermic in dissected slopes unit. The supreme and subsequent prior potential suitability of sixteen specific corps, i.e., field crops (wheat, barley, maize, cotton and onion), oil crops (sesame and sunflower), fodder crops (alfalfa and sorghum), vegetables (tomato) and fruit trees (banana, citrus, guava, mango, oil palm and olive) to be cultivated in the studied physiographic-soil units was carried out by matching between the parametric approach of land evaluation classes and their crop-physiography adaptations. The obtained data show that the potential suitability classes differed according to the satisfaction conditions between different properties of soils developed on the studied physiographic-soil units and plant requirements. These adaptations can be promising for rather higher output as the major land improvements that are considered for the land qualities of drainage, salinity and sodicity to be achieved when the land considering free of those limitations. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| Physiographic-soil units; land evaluation; soil taxa; El Fayoum region | ||
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