CAIRO - 18 November 2024: The Egyptian state is making great efforts to reclaim and cultivate about 4 million acres in desert areas.
The Ministry of Agriculture, represented by its scientific bodies such as the Agricultural Research Center and Desert Research Center and other bodies, is conducting studies to explore desert lands and implement field and laboratory studies to inventory and classify the soil and determine the areas suitable for agriculture.
The ministry is also working to develop appropriate crop structures for each region in accordance with the properties and nature of the soil, climate and availability of irrigation water sources.
Alaa Farouk, Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, confirmed that the axis of horizontal expansion contributes to increasing the agricultural area and crop area, which can improve self-sufficiency rates of strategic crops, in addition to establishing new agricultural urban communities that provide many job opportunities and provide new horizons for investmentز
Minister Farouk noted that the state was able to achieve an increase in the agricultural area by reclaiming and cultivating the desert in an area of more than 2 million acres that began cultivation and production.
He further added that these areas are part of the national projects for horizontal expansion currently being implemented, the most important of which are: the projects of the Future of Egypt Authority in the areas of "New Delta with an area of 2.2 million acres - North and Central Sinai with an area of 456 thousand acres - Sunbul Sono in Aswan with an area of 650 thousand acres" and the New Egyptian Countryside Development Project with an area of 1.5 million acres, and the Toshka Project with an area of 1.1 million acres, in addition to private sector projects in the New Valley, East Oweinat and Toshka.
In light of the shortage of fresh water resources, the Egyptian state has resorted to treating and recycling agricultural drainage water and reusing it in agriculture in addition to groundwater sources, as the government has spent billions of pounds on establishing triple treatment plants for agricultural drainage water to provide irrigation water, in addition to applying modern practices to rationalize the use of irrigation water by applying modern irrigation systems in all new horizontal expansion projects.
Farouk added that the Ministry of Agriculture is coordinating with the Future of Egypt for Sustainable Development Agency to support horizontal expansion projects by establishing research units in new reclamation areas and assigning specialized experts from the ministry's research centers to work in them, as well as providing seeds and production requirements for horizontal expansion projects.
He explained that 17 new agricultural development clusters have been implemented in the Sinai Peninsula, with 7 clusters in South Sinai and 10 clusters in North Sinai, and about 2,122 families from Sinai and other governorates benefit directly from these clusters, with 5 acres and a house for each beneficiary and his family.
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