The rapid population growth in Egypt has accelerated desert reclamation to attain food security. The present work aimed at exploiting remote sensing and GIS for assessing land capability and crop suitability of soils located on the eastern side of Suez Canal, Egypt. The studied soils occupy 220.7 km2 between longitudes 32° 24' 1" to 32° 29' 37" E and latitude 30° 29' 47" to 30° 42' 45" N. The sand sheet is the only landform covering the area, including three units; low, moderate and high. The soils are classified as Typic Torripsamments, with sand being the dominant texture class. The land capability spatial model (LCSM) showed that the fair soils occupy an 208.7 km2, representing 94.6% of the total area, while the poor soils occupy 12.0 km2 and represent 5.4% of the total area. Soil texture is the limiting factor for land capability. The Applied System for Land Evaluation (ASLE) software was used for assessing land suitability for 12 crops; alfalfa, peanut, sugar beet, wheat, onion, tomato, watermelon, citrus, date palm, fig, grape, and olives. The clay content is the limiting factor. The soils would be suitable (S2) and marginally suitable (S3) for the selected crops. The most recommended crops would be peanut, tomato, and date palm, as the soils appeared suitable for their requirements. |
