Mapping Spatial Management Zones of Salt-Affected Soils in Arid Region: A Case Study in the East of the Nile Delta, Egypt

Elsayed Said Mohamed,Ahmed H Ibrahim,Mohamed K Abdel-Fattah,Samah M S Abdelaal,Karam F Moussa,Dmitry E Kucher,Igor Savin

doi:10.3390/agronomy11122510

Abstract

Soil salinization is a global problem that affects a large part of the world, especially arid and semi-arid regions. Hence, diagnosing soil salinity is the first step towards appropriate management. The current work aims to assess and map soil salinity in the eastern Nile Delta using principal component analysis (PCA). In order to develop appropriate solutions for rational management to mitigate the impacts of soil salinization and increase yield production 34 soil profiles were dug that covered the variation in the soils located at the northeast of the Nile delta. The spatial variation of soil parameters was mapped using ordinary kriging interpolation. The results of PCA illustrated that, among the studied soil properties, soil electrical conductivity (ECe), sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), exchangeable sodium percent (ESP), and bulk density (BD), are the critical factors affecting management practices in the Nile Delta. Two spatial management zones (SMZ) were identified; SMZ 1 occupied 45.04% of the study area and SMZ2 occupied 54.96% of the study area. The average of soil pH, ECe, SAR, CEC, ESP and BD were 8.31, 20.32 dSm−1, 47.19, 32.9 cmolckg−1, 32.85% and 1.47 Mgm−3 for the first cluster (SMZ1), respectively. In addition, the second cluster (SMZ2) had average soil pH, ECe, SAR, CEC, ESP and BD of 7.75, 12.30 dSm−1, 26.6, 25.23 cmolckg−1, 26.6% and 1.27 Mgm−3. The results showed p-value < 0.05 which confirms that there is a significant statistical difference between the two zones. Finally, the results obtained could be used as a fundamental basis for improving agricultural management practices in such salt-affected soils.

Highlights

Increasing of food demand represents a great pressure on governments, especially in third world countries, as a result of the high population increase, which has led to increased competition over natural resources use [1,2,3,4]
The results indicated that the pH, ECe, sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), Cation exchange capacity (CEC), exchangeable sodium percent (ESP) and CaCO3 of the studied soil ranged between 8.03, 16.46 dSm−1, 39.74, 29.07 cmolckg−1, 29.73% and 5.82%, respectively
The results showed that the Gaussian model was the fitting model for a logarithm of soil pH, SAR, CEC, clay, sand and porosity, the pentaspherical model was the fitting model for a logarithm of ECe, ESP and silt, an exponential model was the fitting model for a logarithm of CaCO3, and a spherical model was the fitting model for a logarithm of bulk density (BD)

Summary

Introduction

Increasing of food demand represents a great pressure on governments, especially in third world countries, as a result of the high population increase, which has led to increased competition over natural resources use [1,2,3,4]. The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) was most often used to describe vegetation status This index depends on healthy plant absorbs most of the red light, while reflecting most of the near-infrared light, this index values ranging between −1 to 1 as the index values increase with increasing greenness and the health status of the plant [23]. This indicator has been widely used in many studies, as some authors have used NDVI for crop quantities [24], monitoring agricultural management and as an indicator of soil fertility status [25]. NDVI was used as an indicator of some degradation factors such as soil salinity [26]

Objectives

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion