The area of Beni Suif is considered a good model for representing many
of the landscape features in Egypt. So, it was 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 River Nile and desert sediments, that were derived from local
parent rocks. The physiographic features were identified, using visual
interpretation of aerial photographs and Landsat data ETM7 (Enhanced
Thematic Mapper 7), according the applied physiographic approach, and
found to be as pediplain, bajada, alluvial terraces, wadis, aeolian plain and
River Nile deposits. The meandering River Nile deposits were subdivided
as Nile meandering belt (river bank, ox-bow bars and levees) and Nile
alluvial plain, the later landforms whether is flat or almost flat slightly
depressed. The rock structures were delineated as dissected cuesta of
summits and fronts or as rock outcrops. Forty mini pits were located and
studied for setting up a characteristic map legend. The differences were
represented by twelve 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, 2003) till the soil family level into:
i)The Aridisols, soil families are a) Lithic Haplocalcids, loamy skeletal
in pediplain and b) Typic Calcigypsids, sandy skeletal in bajada.
ii) The Vertisols include a) Typic Haplotorrerts, clayey (semectitic) in
the flat alluvial plain and b)Halic Haplotorrerts, clayey, (semectitic) in
the slightly depressed alluvial plain.
iii) The Entisols include a) Typic Torriorthents, fine loamy in the river
bank, b) Typic Torriorthents, clayey over fine loamy in levee and c)
Typic Torriorthents, loamy skeletal in alluvial terraces.
In the ox-bow bars the soils are in a complex pattern of a) Typic
Torriorthents, sandy and b) Typic Torriorthents, coarse loamy.
Soils of wadis, soils are found in a complex pattern of a) Typic
Torrifluvents, fine loamy over sandy, (calcareous) and b) Typic
Torrifluvents, loamy skeletal. As for aeolian plain, the soils are Typic
Torripsamments. All the studied soils are mixed, except those of
Vertisols, and hyperthermic.
The physiographic-soil units were evaluated for agriculture specific use
of certain crops to asses the supreme current and potential suitability
for the different crops to give the maximum output. The land suitability
is presented on the physiographic-soil units as land suitability guide
maps for alfalfa, barley, cotton, maize, sorghum, sunflower, tomato,
wheat, banana, citrus, guava, mango and olive.