Soil Conditions of Dakhla Oasis, Western Desert, Egypt
125
The region has 3.7 million feddans (1 feddan = 1.03784 acre, 1 feddan =4200
sq.m, and 1 acre = 4046.86 sq.m) suitable for agriculture and relies on the exploitation
of the provision of irrigation water through the drilling of underground wells and also
through Sheikh Zayed Canal, which derives its water resources from Lake Nasser.
The spread of urbanization and its persistence in a desert area requires an agricultural
environment based on available land and water.
The New Valley Governorate relies entirely on groundwater for agriculture,
drinking, industry and all purposes (till the completion of drilling and operation of
Sheikh Zayed Canal). The agricultural and industrial development rates have been
dependent on the efforts of the state only in drilling wells, especially in the areas of
East Awainat, in Farafra and some areas of Dakhla. The oasis is exposed to many
natural hazards spread in the Nile Delta that decease soil quality and agricultural
production such as soil salinity and land degradation and prevent the achievement
of sustainable agricultural development (Abu-hashim et al. 2016; Mohamed 2013;
Mohamed et al. 2013a, b, 2014, 2019a, b, c; AbdelRahman et al. 2019a; Hammam
and Mohamed 2018; Hassan et al. 2019).
Water is available along the length of the province sand rocks formed in ancient
times, known as the Nubian era and extends the rocks of this era to the north of
Sudan, and the thickness of the layer of sandstone Nubian between 400 m near the
borders of Sudan and 800 m in Kharga and 1200 m in Dakhla and 2000 m in Farafra.
The estimated annual flow rate of this groundwater is about 30 m per year, and the
annual recharge of Western Sahara is estimated at about 240 million m
3 annually. The
amount of water that can be exploited from 150 m of Nubian sandstone is estimated
at 2340 billion m
3 , For 780 years (Abdel-Shafy and Kamel 2016). The low areas of
the oasis are similar in their characteristics to the soils of the Nile Delta, where have
high content of clay is in the lower fair and also the high soil moisture (Mohamed
et al. 2019a; AbdelRahman et al. 2019b)
The governorate boasts many mineral resources, the most important of which are
the phosphate ore at Abu Tartour plateau, as well as raw materials; zinc, lead, iron,
marble, limestone, sand, asphalt, sandstone and sand (Hamimi et al. 2020).
The number of wells allocated to drinking water is 104 wells with the daily
operation of 107234 m
3 /day. There are 50 purification plants distributed in the towns
and villages of the governorate. There are 130 water reservoirs in the governorate.
Clean drinking water covers all cities and villages in the governorate and the average
per capita drinking water is 592 lit/day.
Because of populace increment in Egypt and the urgent need for food, it is necessary to maximize the utilization of natural resources for agriculture production,
conduct a land evaluation, and study its suitability for crop cultivation. It is the
first step to utilize land resources (Mohamed et al. 2014; AbdelRahman et al. 2016).
One of the important zones for agricultural expansion is the New Valley governorate.
The New Valley is the largest governorate in Egypt; it occupies the southern half of
the western desert of Egypt, covering an area of 458,000 km
2 , or about 48% of
the total surface area of Egypt. Advanced technologies such as remote sensing and
geographic information systems (GIS) facilitated the study and evaluation of lands,
125
The region has 3.7 million feddans (1 feddan = 1.03784 acre, 1 feddan =4200
sq.m, and 1 acre = 4046.86 sq.m) suitable for agriculture and relies on the exploitation
of the provision of irrigation water through the drilling of underground wells and also
through Sheikh Zayed Canal, which derives its water resources from Lake Nasser.
The spread of urbanization and its persistence in a desert area requires an agricultural
environment based on available land and water.
The New Valley Governorate relies entirely on groundwater for agriculture,
drinking, industry and all purposes (till the completion of drilling and operation of
Sheikh Zayed Canal). The agricultural and industrial development rates have been
dependent on the efforts of the state only in drilling wells, especially in the areas of
East Awainat, in Farafra and some areas of Dakhla. The oasis is exposed to many
natural hazards spread in the Nile Delta that decease soil quality and agricultural
production such as soil salinity and land degradation and prevent the achievement
of sustainable agricultural development (Abu-hashim et al. 2016; Mohamed 2013;
Mohamed et al. 2013a, b, 2014, 2019a, b, c; AbdelRahman et al. 2019a; Hammam
and Mohamed 2018; Hassan et al. 2019).
Water is available along the length of the province sand rocks formed in ancient
times, known as the Nubian era and extends the rocks of this era to the north of
Sudan, and the thickness of the layer of sandstone Nubian between 400 m near the
borders of Sudan and 800 m in Kharga and 1200 m in Dakhla and 2000 m in Farafra.
The estimated annual flow rate of this groundwater is about 30 m per year, and the
annual recharge of Western Sahara is estimated at about 240 million m
3 annually. The
amount of water that can be exploited from 150 m of Nubian sandstone is estimated
at 2340 billion m
3 , For 780 years (Abdel-Shafy and Kamel 2016). The low areas of
the oasis are similar in their characteristics to the soils of the Nile Delta, where have
high content of clay is in the lower fair and also the high soil moisture (Mohamed
et al. 2019a; AbdelRahman et al. 2019b)
The governorate boasts many mineral resources, the most important of which are
the phosphate ore at Abu Tartour plateau, as well as raw materials; zinc, lead, iron,
marble, limestone, sand, asphalt, sandstone and sand (Hamimi et al. 2020).
The number of wells allocated to drinking water is 104 wells with the daily
operation of 107234 m
3 /day. There are 50 purification plants distributed in the towns
and villages of the governorate. There are 130 water reservoirs in the governorate.
Clean drinking water covers all cities and villages in the governorate and the average
per capita drinking water is 592 lit/day.
Because of populace increment in Egypt and the urgent need for food, it is necessary to maximize the utilization of natural resources for agriculture production,
conduct a land evaluation, and study its suitability for crop cultivation. It is the
first step to utilize land resources (Mohamed et al. 2014; AbdelRahman et al. 2016).
One of the important zones for agricultural expansion is the New Valley governorate.
The New Valley is the largest governorate in Egypt; it occupies the southern half of
the western desert of Egypt, covering an area of 458,000 km
2 , or about 48% of
the total surface area of Egypt. Advanced technologies such as remote sensing and
geographic information systems (GIS) facilitated the study and evaluation of lands,