Does West Menya Consider a Promising Area to Build a New Agricultural Society?

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 senior researcher- SWERI- ARC

2 Professor of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University.

3 senior researcher SWERI, ARC

4 soil science, Ain shams university, Cairo, Egypt

Abstract

In Egypt, the renewed water resources are limited and do not meet population growth. At the same time, there is a good groundwater source along with vast extension land which could help establish new agricultural communities. The vital aim of current research is to study the possibility of building new agriculture societies in the western region of Menya governorate by evaluating groundwater suitability for irrigation, drinking, and food production because no life without water and wherever water is found life is found. To achieve the aim of the study, 73 well water samples from different depths were collected in 2018. Only 41 pivots of 73 center pivots are cultivated with sugar beet. Water was analyzed according to the evaluation systems used. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) are used to determine water quality for irrigation as individual assessment (IA) and combined assessment (CA). At the same time, World Health Organization (WHO) and Egyptian higher committee water (EHCW) criteria are used for water suitability as drinking water. The obtained results reveal that about 93.2 % and 90.3 % of total water samples are suitable for irrigation in IA and CA respectively, while 85.8 % of studied water samples are suitable for drinking use. Comparing WHO and EHCW noticed that the Egyptian higher committee water (EHCW) criteria are tougher and safety than those recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). Obtained results of sugar beet production exceed 1.47 times more than those reported by the Ministry of Egyptian Agriculture. An abundance of good water quality for irrigation and drinking and a huge promising area is supporting the building of new agricultural societies.

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