ORIGINAL_ARTICLE
Land Capability Assessment by Using Geographic Information System in North Delta, Egypt
THE PROBLEMS of ever-increasing population and increased competition for a variety of stresses, especially in the Nile Delta, Egypt, have induced tremendous pressure on shrinking land resources. Agricultural land in Egypt is limited, so we need to identify and preserve it for agricultural use. This study aims to produce the thematic maps of soil properties assess the land capability by using the Geographic Information System (GIS). To realize this objective, the fieldwork laboratory analysis and satellite data (Landsat ETM+ and ASTER images) were used in a Geographic Information System to outline the landforms and land capability of the studied area. A representative soil samples were collected according to landforms, South Burullus Lake, North of the Nile Delta, Egypt. Soil taxonomic units were defined as Aquallic Salorthids, Typic Haplosalids, Typic Torrifluvents and Vertic Torrifluvents. Their corresponding area percent were 31.97, 13.48, 1.25 and 53.3 % of the total area, respectively. The dominant main Land forms were flood plain and lacustrine plain (74.7, 25.3 % of the total area). The thematic layers for CaCO3 and clay content, water table (WT) depth, EC, pH, SAR, OM, and Bulk density (Bd) were created in ArcGIS 10.1 using the Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) method. These layers were matched together to assess the land capability classes. The obtained land capability classes are I, II, III and IV comprised 6.30, 28.95, 60.57 and 4.18% of the total study area, respectively.
https://ejss.journals.ekb.eg/article_310_3abd6cafdd82bb34e8338730898e71c2.pdf
2015-06-30
115
130
10.21608/ejss.2015.310
Keywords: Soil capability
spatial analyses
Soil mapping
Remote Sensing
and GIS
ORIGINAL_ARTICLE
Mineralogical Composition of Some Soils East of Kom Ombo City, Aswan Governorate, Egypt
THE AIM of the current work is to identify the mineralogical …… composition of sand and clay fractions in order to evaluate the genesis and degree of homogeneity of soils in the study area.
Landsat ETM (Path 174/Row 43) image (2012) and digital elevation model (DEM) were used in ERDAS Imagine 9.2 software to produce the physiographic map of the study area. From the physiographic point of view, the landscapes include five units, i.e. sedimentary plain, low wadi plain, dissected erosion plain, terraces and wadi bottom. Ten soil profiles were selected to represent the main physiographic units. The morphological description was done and soil samples have been collected for physical and mineralogical analysis.
The data reveal that the sorting index (So) of all soil profiles in the study area is poorly and very poorly sorted indicating aqueous media of transportation. The obtained data of skewness (Sk) reveal the symmetry of distribution towards coarse skewed throughout the majority of soil profile layers.
With regard to the mineralogical composition of these soils, the sand fraction consists of light and heavy minerals. The light minerals are the main constituents of sand fraction and consist mainly of quartz (> 90%) followed by feldspars (plagioclase and orthoclase) in addition to muscovite and calcite minerals. On the other hand, the heavy minerals composed of opaques and non-opaques. Opaque minerals are generally the major heavy fraction constituents in all the examined soils. These minerals composed essentially of iron oxide minerals (e.g., magnetite, ilmenite and hematite). The complementary non-opaque minerals are recalculated to be 100%. These minerals consist of: (a) igneous origin minerals or unstable minerals (amphiboles, pyroxenes and epidotes); these minerals are mainly dominating the non-opaque minerals in the study area. (b) sedimentary origin minerals which are also named ultrastable or index minerals include zircon, rutile and tourmaline, these minerals are the second abundant minerals in the study area and, (c) metamorphic origin minerals or metastable minerals (garnet, kyanite, staurolite, sillimanite and andalusite) are detected in considerable portions in the studied soils.
The source rocks of the sand fraction in the study area are the mixture of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. The igneous rocks are the first source of sands in sediments of the study area. The vertical distribution of the uniformity ratios and weathering values are changed irregularly depthwise. This indicates that these sediments were inherited from multi-sources and/or may be subjected to different sedimentation cycles.
The abundance and distribution of amphiboles and pyroxenes minerals indicate that the studied soils are recent, poorly developed and immature from the pedogenic point of view. The soils units are mostly not affected by Nile sediments. The soils are weathered from the Red Sea igneous rocks and the sedimentary rocks of the surrounding area and transported by the action of water during the wet period throughout the streams in the study area.
The data reveal that clay minerals suite is dominated by smectite, followed by kaolinite, while illite mineral is detected in few amounts. Furthermore, some nonclay minerals, e.g., quartz, feldspars, calcite and dolomite are, however, detected in considerable amounts in some clay fractions.
It is well known that the clay minerals could be present as a result of inheritance from parent material by alteration, degradation of primary minerals, synthesizing and addition. Chemical decay is somewhat limited due to the prevalence of aridity, while the mechanical weathering contributes to a great extent. The variation in the relative content of the present clay minerals may be attributed mainly to sedimentation regime varieties and /or to the nature of the source rocks.
https://ejss.journals.ekb.eg/article_311_6097ad7f7daac12dd0d17cbf67fb02c5.pdf
2015-06-30
131
154
10.21608/ejss.2015.311
Keywords: Sand mineralogy
Clay Mineralogy
light and heavy minerals
Soil uniformity
ORIGINAL_ARTICLE
Assessing Long-Term Changes of Productivity in Some Floodplain Soils, Egypt, Using Spatial Analyses Techniques
SOIL productivity evaluation for a long term has been a major …..hotspot in soil science. The current study aims at monitoring soil productivity within the last four decades in the middle of the Nile Delta, Egypt. To fulfill this objective, eleven soil profiles were collected to represent the different mapping units. Landsat ETM+ image dated at 2013 and digital elevation model (SRTM) were processed using ENVI 4.7 software to identify the main physiographic units in the studied area. The results indicate that flood plain is the main landscape, while the main landforms of the area under consideration are grouped as basins, mantles and river terraces. Two soil orders could be identified; Entisols and Aridisols that include four great groups, i.e., Typic Torrifluvents, Vertic Torrifluvent, Vertic Natrargids and Typic Natrargids. The spatial analyst function in ArcGIS 9.3 was used to estimate the rating of moisture content, drainage condition, effective soil depth, texture/structure, soluble salt concentration, organic matter content, mineral exchange capacity/nature of clay and mineral reserve. According to soil productivity in 2013, results showed that 73.46% of the total area have decreased productivity compared with soil productivity in 1968 and this is due to many problems, and the most influencing factors are high soil salinity and high exchangeable sodium percentage and rising soil water table, while about 13.06% of these lands have increased their productivity and thus to improve the properties of these soils and increase the soil productivity, agricultural management must take care to reduce salinity, alkalinity, and improve the drainage system.
https://ejss.journals.ekb.eg/article_312_c8caa84352ac46a74b4bb9c83c3e151f.pdf
2015-06-01
155
170
10.21608/ejss.2015.312
Keywords: Soil productivity
physiographic units
Floodplain
spatial analyses
ORIGINAL_ARTICLE
Evaluation of the Productivity of Two Soils Using Productivity Index
CORN productivity data is needed to sustain the farm production. …… This research was conducted to evaluate soil productivity of two different soil texture, clay loam (soil1)and loam (soil2) using three productivity index models (PI1, PI2 and PIM). Five soil properties were chosen to calculate the productivity index for the model PI1 namely, soil available water, soil bulk density, pH, EC, and root depth. Two more parameters, clay content and organic matter, were included in the original PI1 model to calculate PI2. The calculation of PIM index was depending on different irrigation treatments; i.e. 50%, 70%, 80% and 100% of available soil moisture and on crop evapotranspiration besides the soil properties used in the original PI1 model. Obtained results showed that the estimated values of PI1 were 0.57 and 0.52, whereas, for PI2 were 0.28 and 0.22 for soil1 and soil2, respectively. On the other hand, values of PIM increased as soil moisture increased. The highest PIM (0.46 and 0.45) were obtained with 80% irrigation treatment, whereas, the lowest PIM (0.34 and 0.33) were obtained with 50% irrigation treatment of soil1 and soil2, respectively. The results revealed that soil1 has higher productivity potential than soil2, where the calculated values of PI1, PI2 and PIM were higher for soil1 than for soil2. When comparing the calculated values of PI1, PI2 and PIM with the relative values of soil productivity, the PI1 values showed that both soils are very high productive soils. Whereas, PI2 showed that both soils have moderate productivity. In contrast, the PIM values under all irrigation treatments indicated that both soils have high soil productivity. The higher and lower corn yields corresponded to higher and lower productivity indices values, respectively in both soils. A highly significant correlation between seed yield and PIM (R2 = 0.97) was obtained. Whereas, the relationship between seed yield and actual evapotranspiration explained about 84% of the variation in corn yield (R2 =0.84). These results concluded that PI1 andPIM models were effective in quantifying soil productivity and seem to be good prediction models of corn yield.
https://ejss.journals.ekb.eg/article_314_7bde7e6f433a844ab62caecf087571fb.pdf
2015-06-30
171
184
10.21608/ejss.2015.314
Productivity index
models
Corn yield
irrigation regimes
soil properties
ORIGINAL_ARTICLE
Availability of P, Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu as Affected by Waterlogging and Compost Addition in Some Soils of Egypt
UNDER conditions of waterlogging, a Laboratory experiment was ......conducted for studying the effect of a period of soil water logging and compost addition on pH, Redox potential (Eh) and the availability of P, Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu in clay loam and sandy soils. The obtained results indicated that waterlogging the sandy soil up to threeweeks and the clay loam soil up to fourweeks decreased their pH values thereafter these values tended to increase slightly, and the compost additions reduced soil pH.
In both soils, Eh showed a marked decline reaching a minimum value during the first week of waterlogging. The addition of the compost resulted in a greater decrease of Eh.
Waterlogging the investigated soils increased their availability of P, Fe, and Mn, while the availability of Zn and Cu decreased. The addition of compost decreased the availability of the investigated elements. This trend may be due to the formation of insoluble organic complexes.
https://ejss.journals.ekb.eg/article_315_9ab8054b14797dc13c066cdbaccb90e3.pdf
2015-06-30
185
195
10.21608/ejss.2015.315
waterlogging
compost
Redox potential
phosphorus
Micronutrients
ORIGINAL_ARTICLE
Applications of Nanotechnology in Agriculture: An Overview
AGRICULTURE provides food for humans, directly and indirectly. ….. Given the increasing world population, it is necessary to use the modern technologies such as nanotechnology in agricultural sciences. Nanotechnology has been defined as relating to materials, systems, and processes which operate at a scale of 100 nanometers (nm) or less. Nanotechnology has many applications in all stages of production, processing, storing, packaging and transport of agricultural products. Nanotechnology will revolutionize agriculture and food industry by innovation of new techniques such as precision farming techniques, enhancing the ability of plants to absorb nutrients, more efficient and targeted use of inputs, disease detection and control diseases, withstand environmental pressures and effective systems for processing, storage and packaging, increase the efficiency of applied fertilizer with the help of nano-clays and zeolites and restoration of soil fertility by releasing fixed nutrients. Research on smart seeds programmed to germinate under favourable conditions with nanopolymer coating is encouraging. Nano herbicides are being developed to address the problems in perennial weed management and exhausting weed seed bank. The efficiency of medicine increases by use of nano particle in animal sciences. Silver and iron nano particles are used in the treatment and disinfection of livestock and poultry. Levels of environment pollution can be evaluated quickly by nano smart dust and gas sensors.
https://ejss.journals.ekb.eg/article_324_b954eee9d4ebc7e347e531b4c5a6f366.pdf
2015-06-30
197
214
10.21608/ejss.2015.324
Nanotechnology
agriculture
food quality
Nanofertilizers
Nanoherbicides
Nanopesticides
Nanopolymers
Smart seeds
Biosensors
environment
Climate Change
ORIGINAL_ARTICLE
Chemical and Fertility Indicators of Soil Quality in Organic and Conventional Farming Systems in Egypt
ORGANIC farming has gained ground worldwide and has ……...expanded in recent years due to environmental, economic, and social concerns. In Egypt, up to 2.23 % of the agricultural area is managed organically. The transition from conventional to organic farming is accompanied by changes in an array of soil properties and processes that affect soil fertility. These changes in soil properties under Egyptian condition are not well documented. Therefore, the present study was carried out to study the comparative effects of organic and conventional farming systems on some soil chemical indicators under Egyptian condition.
Surface soil samples (0-30 cm) were collected from eight field pairs (organic field and its conventional counterpart) to represent Organic farms in three locations (Fayoum (Tubhar village), Bilbeis city (SEKEM organic farm) and Salhyia City). The organic fields were in organic practice for 4, 6, and 10 years (Fayoum samples), 20 and 30 years (Sharkyia samples), 8, 10 and 12 years (Ismailia samples) since certification. The studied soil chemical indicators include soil organic carbon, T-N, pH, EC, CEC, exchangeable cations, and available N, P, K, Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu.
Soil organic carbon, T-N, CEC, and available N, P, K, Fe, and Mn were significantly higher in the organic system than in the conventional system. Also, organically managed soils showed significantly better soil nutritional status regardless the periods of organic farming practice. On the other hand, soil pH, EC, available Cu and Zn were higher in the conventional system than in the organic system.
https://ejss.journals.ekb.eg/article_325_c323b5062b6cf3fb6b7e02d598773256.pdf
2015-06-30
215
230
10.21608/ejss.2015.325
organic farming
conventional
soil quality indicators
available nutrients