UNTRADITIONAL APPROACH FOR RECLAIMING THE EXTREMELY SALT AFFECTED WETLANDS AT THE NORTHERN-EAST NILE DELTA, EGYPT | ||||
Journal of Soil Sciences and Agricultural Engineering | ||||
Article 4, Volume 29, Issue 5, May 2004, Page 2925-2939 PDF (1.09 MB) | ||||
Document Type: Original Article | ||||
DOI: 10.21608/jssae.2004.241915 | ||||
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Author | ||||
M.M. Mahmoud | ||||
Soils, Water and Environ. Res. Inst., Agric. Res. Center, Giza, Egypt. | ||||
Abstract | ||||
The magnitude of the studied salt affected soils has been increased fast due to scale efforts to bring additional areas under the agricultural utilization projects in recent decades. Also, it is necessary to correct their deleterious properties under introduce water management practices that will prevent wasting of fresh water. In addition, executing a suitable technique that has become associated with increasing soil supplying power for nutrients and minimizing the possible adverse effects for adapting land resources to human demand. Therefore, the current work has been undertaken to evaluate the constraints for ameliorating the salt affected soil under the prevailing environmental conditions of the northem-east Nile Delta area. The proposal reclamation technique should be overcome three aspects of related problems, I.e., leaching the excess of salts, lowering the ESP values and developing an adequate soil structure. The studied soil Is commonly found under relatively high ground water table, thus it is surveyed as sallne wetland in dry climates and mapped as Aquisalids. The suitability unit 01 the studied soil was a current not suitable (N1tws1s4n), with an Identified Ifmitation of wetness that enhances the hazardous effect of excess water that drives the air from the soil pores and leads to lack of oxygen. Also, the relative heavy texture and salinity/alkalinity have direct adverse influences on soil permeability and \he available water range. In addition. the shallow sanne water table enhances the upward movement and causes salinity/alkalinity conditions under the prevailing hot conditions. The untraditional approach used for reclaiming the studied soil was started With a continuous leaching technique using the saline drainage water, under an economic land use being from a fish-pond farm, where Tilipla fish cultivated on MarCh 2002 and continued up to the same time of 2003. Then, the soil under study was treated with gypsum requirement and poultry waste as natural soil amendments in individual or combined treatments, thoroughly mixed with a depth of 60 em using the surface tillage and subsoiling for improving soil physico-chemical and fertility status. The leaching technique was continued under cultivation of the rice crop irrigated with the Nile water and an effICient open drainage ditches at 25 m distance. Results obtained indicated that the deteriorated soil structure was modified from prismatic or columnar to well define subangular blocky, associated with favourable soil moisture regime cydes and increasing the effective soil depth due to lowering water table level from 65 to more than 140. In addition, disposing the surface salty crust and subsoil olive gray mottles due to improving soil permeability and aeration condition. Also, a pronounced ameliorated conditions were occurred for soil bulk density, soil strength, total porosity, total aggregates, pore size distribution, hydraulic conductIvity, available water range, soil pH, ECe and ESP. The optimum values were achieved in the case of combined treatment (4 ton poultry wastelfed + 8 ton gypsumlfed). The superiority of this treatment is more related to the released active organic acids and soluble Ca2+ or SO.2-, which coagulated the dispersed soil particles, increasing the drainable pores and in tum enhancing soil permeability that encourage Mahmoud, M. M. the removal of Na.salts and decrease the ESP values. On the other hand, soil organic matter and available nutrient achieved the maximum values at rate of 8 ton poultry wastelfed, due to Its enrichment In organic components and essential macro and micronutrients. The studied agr~management practices to the soil under investigation caused a positive effect on the vegetative growth of the grown rice plants, and in tum their yields of straw and grain, with more responded to the combined treatment of (4 ton/fed poultry manure + 8 tonlfed gypsum) for increasing the grain and straw yields with about 73 and 46 %, respectively, over those obtained from the Initial state of soil. | ||||
Keywords | ||||
Fluvi~lacustrine soils; soil fimitations; agricultural utilization; improvement practices of salt affected soils | ||||
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