Soil salinization in the Nile Delta and related policy issues in Egypt

The soil salinization problem in Egypt's Nile Delta and related policy issues are addressed in regards to the need to create water supplies for new irrigation projects by, for instance, re-use of irrigation drainage waters and limits on rice plantings, and at the same time improving the agricultural productivity of the Nile Delta through, for instance, subsurface drainage in waterlogged lands, land leveling and use of gypsum amendments. A brief background on the climate, agriculture and crop rotation patterns, and water and land resources and their salinities is provided. The paper describes countermeasures taken by the government on a national and regional scale and farmers on a local or field scale. The farmer's participatory role in adapting to changes in cropping, water and soil salinity, and national needs are crucial. Emphasis is laid on the advantages and benefits of rice cultivation in drainage- and salt-impacted lands of the northern Delta. But use of rice paddies to control salinity is faced with a number of constraints such as periodic shortfalls in supply of irrigation water, salinity of supply waters consisting of a blend of fresh and drainage waters and diversified cropping, including rice, in a given subsurface drainage system. We strongly support the recommendations for rice cultivation only in saline soils of the Delta but perceive that enforcement of such a policy may be difficult to achieve and long-term changes in salinity of delta waters are not clearly known with increased drainwater re-use. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.