413853

Physical and Chemical Characteristics of Soils in Newly-Reclaimed Areas of Western El-Minya, EGYPT

Article

Last updated: 09 Apr 2025

Subjects

-

Tags

Digital Soil Mapping, soil evaluation and land use change

Abstract

The aim of this study is to evaluate the physical and chemical properties of soils in newly reclaimed areas west of El-Minya. Soil physical and chemical properties are critical for understanding soil health, fertility and its suitability for agriculture or other uses. Soil samples were collected aseptically in sterile poly-bags from fifty (50) profile locations and were analysed for physical and chemical properties. ArcGIS was applied in the geospatial mapping of the studied area. Surface interpolation of soil properties was done using ordinary kriging under the geostatistical analyst-extension in ArcGIS desktop (ver. 10.5). Soil physical and chemical analyses illustrated that the investigated soils were extremely drained, from shallow-deep in depth, strongly to very strongly alkaline (pH 8.08–9.82), and non-saline to moderately saline (EC 0.13–12.38 dS.m-1). Furthermore, the soils were low in organic matter content (0.9–6.3g kg⁻¹), cation exchange capacity (CEC) that ranged from 10.00–57.65 cmolkg-1 and a high range of calcium carbonates (44–426.2 g kg⁻¹). Results also revealed that soils were low in available nutrients: nitrogen (10.05–27.96 mg kg-1), phosphorus (0.06–4.13 mg kg-1), whereas potassium was from low to high (126.03–699.16 mg kg-1). The potential and major constraints for plant growth in the studied area include: (i) bioclimatic factors (rainfall, coldness or warmness), (ii) soil factors (depth, texture, stoniness and salinity) and (iii) other physical indices (soil structure, surface cover, infiltration depth and root depth). In essence, investigated soils could be improved through the adequate management practices including provision of adequate drainage system, application of organic manures, mulching to reduce evaporation and improve water storage, maintenance of cover crop, strip cropping and crop rotation, subsoiling to break the cemented gypsic subsoil for better root penetration, and utilization of mineral fertilizers, especially nitrogen and phosphorus for cereal crops. This is to support policy making framework for stakeholders, decision-makers, and resource managers in future planning of the studied area.

DOI

10.21608/ejss.2025.348785.1948

Keywords

Arid soils, Characterization, Reclamation projects, GIS mapping

Authors

First Name

Mohammed

Last Name

Abdullahi

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Department of Crop Production, Faculty of Agriculture, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, Nigeria, Soils Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Mansoura University, 35516 Mansoura, Egypt

Email

ambello84@mans.edu.eg

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

Ahmed

Last Name

Mosa

MiddleName

Ali

Affiliation

Soils Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Mansoura University, 35516 Mansoura, Egypt

Email

ahmedmosa@mans.edu.eg

City

Elmansoura

Orcid

-

First Name

Abdelhamic

Last Name

Elnaggar

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Soils Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Mansoura University, 35516 Mansoura, Egypt

Email

elnaggar@mans.edu.eg

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

Mahmoud

Last Name

Omar

MiddleName

Mousa

Affiliation

Soils Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Mansoura University, 35516 Mansoura, Egypt

Email

mmmsiwa@mans.edu.eg

City

Elmansoura

Orcid

0000-0001-7783-4597

Volume

65

Article Issue

1

Related Issue

51049

Issue Date

2025-03-01

Receive Date

2024-12-29

Publish Date

2025-03-01

Page Start

569

Page End

577

Print ISSN

0302-6701

Online ISSN

2357-0369

Link

https://ejss.journals.ekb.eg/article_413853.html

Detail API

http://journals.ekb.eg?_action=service&article_code=413853

Order

36

Type

Original Article

Type Code

19

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Egyptian Journal of Soil Science

Publication Link

https://ejss.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

Physical and Chemical Characteristics of Soils in Newly-Reclaimed Areas of Western El-Minya, EGYPT

Details

Type

Article

Created At

25 Feb 2025