Potentiality of a desert plain soil to irrigation in River Nile State-Sudan

Abstract

In this research GPS (Garmin-GPSmap276C) was used to locate the observation sites and explore potentiality of soils of the area east of Shendi town, Shendi Province-River Nile, State of Sudan which is about 12751 ha and comprises a flat to slightly undulating desert plain with low gravely ridges and low jebels in south western and north western parts for irrigated agriculture in terms of the suitability of the landscape and associated soils to the desired use. Map was prepared in the office with 500 m × 500 m grid, the soils were mapped at this intensity and soil lines were drawn to locate the soil profiles at approximately the centre of every delineation. Results revealed least one soil profile for every unit that has an 840 ha was described following FAO (2006) format for profile description and was sampled at different soil horizons. The profiles and auger observation samples were subjected to analysis for their chemical and physical properties. The chemical and physical characteristics was further used to fine tune the soil boundary lines, and for final classification and evaluation purposes for the intended land utilization types. Soil classification was done using USDA Soil Taxonomy (1999) and Keys to Soil Taxonomy (2010), while the evaluation was done following Kevie and Eltom (2004). Hence soil and suitability maps were the final product. Results of this study revealed that 22.9% of the soils of the area were moderately suitable, 69.6% are marginally suitable, 1.6% are currently unsuitable while 5.9% are permanently unsuitable for irrigated agriculture. Key words: Potentiality, desert plain, River Nile, irrigation.