Min. of Agriculture launches vaccination campaign against FMD, RVF

CAIRO - 21 October 2018: The Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation launched on Sep.15 the second prevention campaign in 2018 against the Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and the Rift Valley Fever (RVF), vaccinating to date 3.02 million head and numbering unregistered ones.

General Manager of the Preventive Veterinary Medicine Department Khaled Morsi told Egypt Today that the numbering will help taking census of the cattle population in Egypt, and thus, securing the necessary amount of vaccine.

Morsi called on breeders to benefit from the campaign and vaccinate their cattle immediately as those diseases become active in winter. He added that all veterinary units are operating in full capacity as all holidays have been cancelled for vets.

Ministry of Agriculture ordered on Oct.14 to stop tomato seed imports after the infection of thousands of acres with yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) was confirmed.

Samples taken from the fields for analysis tested positive for the virus, according to the investigation committee tasked to probe into the issue, the ministry added in a statement.

Earlier in October, the Egyptian authorities launched investigations after a group of farmers suffered losses in their 2018 tomato crops which resulted from planting seeds of class 023, infected with tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV).

Committees of the state-owned Agricultural Research Center (ARC) analyzed samples of the infected tomatoes from several planted areas.

The infected crops were planted on around 10,000 acres across many rural areas, mainly in Nobaria and Wadi al-Natroun cities in Beheira governorate.

The cost of cultivating one acre of tomato was estimated at LE 50,000 (US$ 2,795). Tomato is considered one of Egypt’s major exported crops.

Egypt cultivates a total of 500,000 acres of tomatoes annually in different areas nationwide. Around 20 tons of tomatoes are produced in one acre, Head of Vegetables Department at the state-owned Central Administration of Horticulture, Alaa al-Bahrawy, told Infrad website.

Egypt’s tomato exports in the first quarter of 2018 amounted to $13.5 million, compared to $6.6 million in the same period of 2017, according to Egypt’s Foreign Trade’s annual bulletin.

Furthermore, it has been reported that Egypt will export tomatoes to the Canadian markets as part of its plan to increase vegetable export outlets.