Gov't should receive cotton yields from farmers: Min. of agriculture

CAIRO – 12 October 2018: Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, Ezz el-Din Abo Steit, asserted that the Cabinet, headed by Mostafa Madbouly, should be committed to the decision taken by Sherif Ismail’s government to receive cotton yields from farmers.

The minister of agriculture and land reclamation stated that the cotton yield in 2018 surpassed 2017's yield. The minister exposed that 2017's cotton prices exceeded LE 3,000 because of the hike in the global prices.

This came during a meeting held between the minister and the Committee of Agriculture and Irrigation in the House of Representatives to discuss matters regarding the refusal of the current government to receive the cotton yield for the price of LE 2,700 per kantar.

The minister explained that Egyptian farmers have always been the backbone of the Egyptian economy and that they support the country in difficult periods, referring to the hard economic conditions that Egypt witnessed in 1967.

Abo Steit reiterated that the Egyptian peasants were the primary supporters of the country’s economy while the nation suffered due to the stoppage of the Suez Canal ship movement.

In the same context, MP Mustafa el-Gedny pointed out that the government should receive the yields from the famers as soon as possible to avoid a big loss for the cotton farmers.