Reclamation of saline soils by leaching in the north of Egypt

Abstract

This paper reports the result of leaching trials carried out on heavy soils of Niles' Delta - Egypt, under present drainage conditions, in order to determine the necessary parameters that allow predictions of leaching requirements as well as effectiveness of saline soils reclamation process. The study formed part of the survey for mil improvement purposes at Kafr el Sheikh Governorate, Egypt. That area has already been subject to works (surface drainage) in the sixties, but the problem is notyet overcome and high groundwater tables and salinity persist, limiting crop production. It was found out that because of the nature of those deep clay soils the amount of effective leaching water is not more than 2 mm/d, but it proved to be efficient enough (leaching efficiency found, 15%). Some typical desalination curves for these soils were also obtained, making possible a suitable planning of a land reclamation programme. Leaching coefficients between 0.1 and 0.42 were found.