Variability in Some Soil Physical and Chemical Properties of Shambat Farm, Khartoum- Sudan

Abstract

An experiment was conducted on the farm of the Faculty of Agricultural Studies, Sudan University of Science and Technology, this soil belongs to the Central Clay Plain of the Sudan which has been formed by alluvial deposit of the Nile, primarily of basaltic origin, and it consider largely as Vertisols. The objective of this study is to evaluate the variability in some physical and Chemical properties of soil under investigation in order to identify their spatial distribution to assist in designing land management and support agricultural production. For these purposes, some physical and Chemical properties at five sites across the farm have been investigated. The results indicated that the soils are variably affected by saline and sodic conditions. Non-saline, slightly saline, moderately saline sub soil and non-sodic to moderately sodic soils are found on the farm. Soil texture is clayey throughout, and hydraulic conductivity is very slow to slow .The whole of soil profile is compacted except at the surface layer, the average of soil bulk density is very high when the soil is dry. The soils under investigation are characterized by high water retention but rather narrow range of available moisture as noticed from the difference between the moisture retained between field capacity and wilting point.