Egypt introduces subsurface drainage systems across 6M feddans

CAIRO – 10 January 2024: The Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources indicated in a statement Wednesday that subsurface drainage systems had been introduced across six million feddans and that others had been renovated across 2.3 million feddans over the past few years.

The target for 2024 is introducing subsurface drainage systems in 60,000 feddans. Those systems protect allow good airing of the plant roots by inhibiting underground water levels from getting high, which also enhances the natural and chemical characteristics of the soil, lowers soil salinity, maintains its fertility, and thus, increases its productivity.

The ministry revealed in a press statement in February that the total length of canals lined had amounted to 6,648 kilometers, and that tenders would be invited soon for lining 1,664 others.

The Ministry of Planning and Economic Development indicated in a November 2022 report that the government targets to finish the lining of 20,000 kilometers of canals by mid-2024.

In April 2022, the irrigation ministry revealed that drip irrigation had been substituted for flood irrigation across 1.35 million (up from one million) feddans (one feddan equals 4,500 square meters).

The costs of the introduction of such system in agricultural lands are assumed by the farmers, but they are given the option that the ministry pays on their behalf on the condition that they pay back in installments with zero interest.