SOME PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BATINAH SOILS

More than 50% of the irrigated soils in the Sultanate of Oman is in the coastal plains of the Batinah area. Intensive agriculture and groundwater depletion have led to seawater intrusion and soil salinization. As a prerequisite to combat this problem, basic studies on some soil properties were done and are presented. The textural classification ranged from sand and loamy sand to fine-textured silt loams, and the soil moisture characteristics (0.1-15 bars) revealed field capacities (0.3 bar) and permanent wilting point (15 bars) ranges of 40 to 2%, respectively. The soils are generally calcareous with about 40% calcium carbonate (CaCO3), but low in gypsum [calcium sulfate (CaSO4) content]. The EC1:5 values disclosed the extent of salinization with increasing values of up to 16 dS/m towards the coastal areas of the fine-textured soils. This was coupled with high sodium (Na) adsorption ratios of up to 30 indicating saline-sodic conditions.