Land Capability Classification for Non-Rice Crops in Soils of the Sandy Terrain of Tram Kak District, Takeo Province.

Abstract

The expansion of crop diversification in Cambodia in lowlands and in uplands could be facilitated by a process for the assessment of land capability for non-rice crops. Maize, soybean, mung bean, sesame and peanut appear to be the crops of most interest initially for land capability assessment, together with cassava and sugar cane. Land capability was determined for the above field crops in predominantly sandy terrain of Tram Kak district, Takeo province. Limiting factors for crops were identified, and land qualities rated for the soil types identified previously in a soil survey of the district. The main Soil groups on the siliceous uplands are Prey Khmer and Prateah Lang. The deep sandy Prey Khmer soils have fair capability for cropping with low soil water storage and Al toxicity being the most likely limiting factors. By contrast, the Prateah Lang soil has poor capability due to waterlogging and low soil water storage, and the Bakan soil was not recommended for non-rice crops due to waterlogging and inundation ris