Sustainable Agriculture Development, Siwa Oasis,Western Desert, Egypt.

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1 Sustainable Agriculture Development, Siwa Oasis,Western Desert, Egypt. Prof. Abo_Ragab Samy, Desert Research Center.,Cairo, Egypt. Introduction Siwa oasis is a natural depression about 23m below sea level. It occupies an area of 1050 km2. Siwa depression covers some 250,000 feddans, of which about feddans are currently cultivated in Agriculture represents the main source of the Siwan economy, essentially focused on cultivation of dates and olives which cover about 93.4% from the cultivated area. The total number of inhabitants in Siwa was about 23,745 residents in It suffers many environmental problems: water logging, soil salinization, the inefficiency of disposed drainage water systems; deterioration in land productivity.

2 Siwa Oasis suffers from many environmental problems, the most important of which can be classified as follows: 1. Rising groundwater table levels in the soil zone especially when the profile is thin, which causes water logging for cultivated land. This leads to salinization and consequently soil deterioration which in turn results in lowering crop productivity by more than 60%. (Abo Ragab, 2010). 2. Random and constant drilling of shallow water wells and improper water management, in additional to the inefficiency of disposed drainage water (Misak, 1988), have contributed to an increase in the deteriorated lands that reached 475 km 2 representing about45.24% of the overall area in the oasis in The distribution of irrigation and drainage systems affects the rate of evaporation during the summer (25 mm/day) leading to the development of a thick salty layer that hampers agricultural activities (El Hossary, 1999) 4. The groundwater affects the foundations of buildings or the development of cracks in the walls due to water fluctuation (Eman, 2005). All these reason's collectively contribute to; (a) water logging, (b) soil salinization, (c) increase of the surface area of the water ponds from 49.9 Km 2 in 1988 to 89 Km 2 in 2010, (d) the rise of the water level in the soil deposits by 4.5 cm/year, (e) deterioration of land productivity and, (f) reduce the household income of the rural population.

3 Improper water management

4 Inefficiency of disposed drainage water

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6 Land use map 1990 Land use map 1992 Land use map 1994 Land use map 1996 Land use map 1998 Land use map 2000 Land use map 2002 Land use map 2004 Land use map 2006 Land use map 2008

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9 Table (2). Agricultural productivity for the olive and Date palm for the first model (affected by desertification) and the second model (unaffected by desertification) - Production Tons Year Productivity affected by desertification productivity unaffected by desertification Olive Date Palm Olive Date Palm * **

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11 Solving Siwa Depression Problem Tight controls for the wells drilling process and a license should be issued for each wells. New legislation's for land reclamation projects, which may negatively effect the Oasis environment. Restrictions should be made for using the fresh water of the Nubian sandstone for irrigation. Cultivation on drainage water feddan Fixation of Sand dunes in the south siwa. Growing the high-water consuming plants on the drainage area Shutdown some of the producing wells to minimize water consumption Improve efficiency of irrigation and drainage network Alleviating pressure inside the depression of the Nobian Sand Stone Aquifer Organization Biological Hydrological

12 Cultivation on drainage water the high-water consuming plants. Shutdown some of the producing wells to minimize water consumption

13 Improve efficiency of irrigation and drainage network.

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15 Impact of overcoming the environmental problems. Economic Feasability *Land profitability increased Local farmer income increased Ecological Advantages Enhance environmental quality and natural resources Improve health of inhabitants. Minimize the number of harmful insects Enhance the quality of life of farmers and society as a whole Satisfy human food needs

16 References: Abo Ragab, Samy, (2010), A Desertification Impact on Siwa Oasis: Present and Future Challenges., Research Journal of agriculture and Biological Sciences, 6(6):791, , INSInet Publication Abo Ragab, Samy, (2014), Sustainable Agriculture Development of Siwa Oasis, Western Desert, Egypt, Minufiya J. Agric. Res. Vol No. 5: El-Hossary, M. F. (1999). Evaluation and management of the groundwater resources in Siwa oasis area with emphasis Nubian sand stone aquifer, Ph.D. Thesis,Egypt,Faculty OF Science, Ain Shams University,.p65. Eman ismail (2004). Phenomenal environment study for high groundwater level of oil and building in siwa oasis, Misak, R.F. (1988). The best method of using of the groundwater resources in Siwa oasis, Desert research center, Cairo, Egypt, Siwa Information Center (SIC), (2015), Statement Support Centre and decisionmaking, Matrouh Governorate, Egypt.