Effect of sprinkler and drip irrigation as well as soil amendments on some soil properties of El-Kawamel farm, Sohag
Fatma N. Th., M. A. Gameh, K. K. Attia and M. S. Ibrahim.
Elkawamel farm, Sohag University is about 150 feddans located in the western border of the Nile Valley in the desert newly reclaimed sandy soil about 15 km south west of Sohag city cultivated with field crops such as wheat, clover, and maize, and vegetables such as onion , garlic and fruit trees such as citrus, apple, peach, grapefruit, olive and mandarin and irrigated with drip or sprinkler irrigation.
To avoid the gravelly texture and the high salinity of the soil in the newly cultivated areas in the western desert of Sohag, the following managements were followed:-
1- Trees were grown at 5x5m area in holes of 100x100x75cm filled with dredged clay materials from the irrigation canals as a soil amendment mixed with the original soil and irrigated with drip irrigation system.
2- Field crops to be cultivated in the soil after spreading 20 to 30 cm of the dredged clay materials and irrigated with sprinkler irrigation system at (10x9 m).
3- Crops or vegetables to be grown on lines irrigated with drip lateral spaced at (1or 1/2m) apart on the land covered with (20-30cm ) of dredged clay materials.
The present study was proposed to evaluate the effect of irrigation methods and adding the dredged clay materials as soil amendments on improving the soil physical and chemical properties in Elkawamel farm in Sohag after 10 years of cultivation as ''a case study ''.
The results showed that applying the irrigation methods and adding clay dredged materials led to:
- Sprinkler irrigation leached the salts from the soil as compared to uncultivated control profiles.
- Drip irrigation of trees leached the salts away from the tree’s trunk.
- Applying clay dredged materials increased the soil fertility and improved the soil water holding capacity as compared to uncultivated control profiles.