Land Capability and Suitability Evaluation of Faculty of Agriculture Farm, Sohag, Egypt

Abstract

ourteen soil profiles were collected to represent an area about 40 feddans of farm, Sohag University to evaluate land capability and crop suitability of soils. Morphological, physical, chemical, fertility characteristics of examined soils were recognized using standard methods of soil testing. All soil attributes were input in different models of suitability and capability evaluation. The salient findings of this study revealed that, the study area was near to optimal (G1) and good capable (G2) except few sites were very poor (G4). Soil suitability evaluation was done for Wheat, Maize, Alfalfa and Poato crops using parametric and MicroLEIS (ALMAGRA) models. The area under investigation has been generally divided into highly to marginally suitable (S1 and S2 in parametric method and S3 in MicroLEIS-ALMAGRA model) for cultivating these crops except few sites were not suitable (S5 in MicroLEIS model) for this purpose. Soil limitations were observed in the study area such as low organic matter, coarse soil texture, alkalinity, and salinity. Storie index and parametric methods were strongly recommended to be used for land capability and suitability assessment in the investigated area, respectively. These findings are useful for decision makers to be used in better planning and management of agricultural lands.