Cultivated lands of summer crops record 2.2 million feddans

CAIRO – 14 June 2017: The Ministry of Agriculture issued a report this month stating that the space of cultivated land of summer crops increased to 2.2 million feddans (1 feddan =about 1.038 acres.) That is the outcome of import-substitution policies adopted by agricultural authorities.

The cultivated space of maize became 1.1 million feddans, divided into 765,420 feddans for yellow corn and 320,719 feddans for white corn, while rice cultivation now occupies 840,141 feddans.

The Agricultural Research Center launched in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture a national campaign to improve and enlarge maize crops in 14 governorates, in order to reduce imports of the cereal used as poultry feed as well as the outflow of foreign currencies.

The Head of the Services and Supervision Sector at the Ministry Abbas al-Shenawy stated to Egypt Today on Tuesday that seeds and fertilizers are available in all agricultural associations negating the presence of any shortage.

Shennawy added that the Ministry’s deputies and authorities in governorates follow up and resolve farmers’ problems, and encourage them to dedicate more space to yellow corn cultivation, as Egypt’s imports of that crop are 8.2 tons annually.

The report indicated that further target spaces are being cultivated, which has caused an augmentation in the lands planted in sesame, soybean, peanuts, sunflowers, melon pulp, sweet corn, onion to 240,000 feddans.

The Ministry is currently keeping record of all cultivated areas all over the country and securing necessary factors of production of summer crops, especially fertilizers.