Assessment of Soil Degradation and Agricultural Land Suitability for Sustainable Land Management in Alexandria and El-Behiera Governorates, Egypt

Abstract

The old agricultural land in Egypt is under continuous threat by different forms of land degradation, especiallychemical degradation. This research aimed to (1) assessing and mapping of soil degradation status in some parts ofAlexandria and El-Behiera governorates, (2) addressing causes of soil degradation, and (3) developing a rationalagricultural land use options to increase land productivity. Soil and water samples were collected for the assessment ofsoil degradation and land suitability. Soil degradation was assessed based on the methodology developed by the Food andAgriculture Organization (FAO). Land suitability assessment was performed using the ALESarid-GIS model. Fieldinvestigations and results of soil analyses indicated that the major type of land degradation in the study area is thechemical soil degradation (soil salinization and alkalinization) and the main drivers of degradation are the inappropriateland management practices. The results of soil chemical degradation showed that most of the investigated area (٨٩%) ismoderately degraded soil, whereas the low degraded soils covers the remaining area (11%). Also, the results indicated thatthe whole investigated soils have a moderate level of biological degradation, which regards to the moderate level of soilorganic matter content. The results from ALESarid-GIS indicated that eighteen crops are considered the most suitable togrow in the investigated area. The suitability classes of these crops vary among highly suitable (S1), moderately suitable(S2) and marginally suitable (S3), but (S1+S2) of each crop covers more than 72% of the investigated area. Seven cropscan only be grown economically in in the highest levels of soil salinity and alkalinity in the study area, which are alfalfa,wheat, barley, onion, sugar beet, rice and pear, since only these crops are considered highly (S1) and moderately (S2)suitable to be grown in such levels of salinity and alkalinity