The Soil Management Practices and Land Use Periods in Relation to Soil Health of Some Sandy Calcareous Soils in Egypt

The current study was carried out to compare and analyze changes in soil health of some new reclaimed soils under different management practices (cropping patterns, irrigation systems and, water sources) and under different cultivation periods (0, 5, 20 and 50 years). The study area lies in the North West of the Nile Delta and includes parts of the West Beheria Settlement Project (WBSP) and some surrounding soils. It was chosen to represent the dominated calcareous sandy soils at that region. Soil health index relevant to the investigated soils was proposed, and relative soil health index (RSHI) was calculated. Data indicated that cultivated soils of the study area are generally characterized by intermediate to low relative soil health / quality index (RSHI) values ranging between 38.75 and 67.00 %. Data showed also that cultivation tended to improve the soil health. However, changes in relative soil health values (∆RSHI) due to cultivation were found to be wide (4.75 – 31.50 %) and this could be assigned to the variation in the crop pattern and management practices. Soils cultivated with vegetables and using Nile water as irrigation water have the relative highest values of ∆RSHI among the studied soils (26.0 and 31.5%) On the other hand, soil cultivated with fruits showed the relative lowest values of ∆RSHI (7.5 – 8.0%) in the soils using the same source of irrigation water (Nile water). Using Nile water caused a relative higher ∆RSHI value (26.0%) than using artesian water (4.75%) in soil cultivated with vegetables. Soils cultivated for 20 years and using either drip irrigation or flood irrigation by Nile water reveal very slight variation in values of ∆RSHI under the same crop pattern. However, data indicated that ∆RSHI values in the drip irrigated soils using Nile water tended to decrease as land use period increased, while the reverse occurred in soils using flood irrigation. Results obtained from the application of MicroLEIS software are, to a large extent, in harmony with those obtained from soil health studies using the relative soil health / quality index values (RSHI) and their changes (∆RSHI values) as well as the soil health / quality classes. However, it can be stated that MicroLEIS software can be used only at the regional scale, as it showed only the major differences in the land capability, while RSHI can be used successfully in small areas, which have minor differences.