Soil resources of Port Said governorate: Assessment and suitability [electronic resource].

Includes references.

The current work was undertaken to assess the soil resources in Port Said Governorate. A reconnaissance soil survey, remote sensing and GIS technologies were used to produce physiographic mapping units. Forty soil profiles were described and sampled for laboratory analyses. Surface interpolation methods were used to generate thematic maps of soil characteristics such as clay content, CaC03 content, salinity and sodicity. The findings of this work indicate that most soil resources of Port Said Governorate are not prime resources. To upgrade agricultural production, traditional reclamation of sodic and saline soils by gypsum application and subsequent leaching may be implemented wherever physically applicable. Biological soil reclamation via cultivating certain forage plant species and aquatic halophytes tolerant to salinity and sodicity offer a possible alternative. Another alternative is to use excessively saline soils in aquaculture over a period of 2 to 3 years, then shift to plant production. The last alternative requires adjustment of relevant water use laws.

Summary in Arabic.

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