Cotton cultivation area increase to 321.8K: Minster

CAIRO – 10 June 2018: The total area of cotton cultivation this season increased by 100,000 feddans on a year-on-year basis, recording about 321,787 feddans, an official report showed.

The report revealed that Kafr el-Sheikh governorate came at the top of the governorates in terms of cultivating cotton with a land of 97,000 feddans, followed by Behaira by 56,657 feddans, Dakhalia by 51,352 and Sharkia by 48,349 feddans.

Al-Fayoum cultivated 16,162 feddans of cotton, and Gharbia cultivated 14,237 feddans, according to the report.

Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Abdel Moneim el-Banna said that the Egyptian cotton's cultivation started to recover, referring that the minimum cultivated area, reached 130,000 feddans in 2016’s season.

In 2016, the Ministry of Agriculture announced it has taken measures to support the domestic cotton sector and increase long-term productivity of the long-staple and medium-length cotton.

The exports of the Egyptian cotton amounted to $462 million in 2016, a report by ITC Trade showed.

Three new varieties of high-yield cotton crop have been registered to suit the local yarn industry and increase its yield by 10 quintals per feddan, Banna added.

According to Banna, a classification map for Egyptian cotton was also prepared and distributed in the governorates, showing the cultivated varieties in each governorate, their productivity, and a map of the cultivars and the approved varieties for each fork.

Trade and Industry Minister Tarek Kabil said in May that the government in Egypt is keen on upgrading the system of cotton cultivation and textile industry to better meet demands of the local market and enhance exports.

The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) said that Egyptian cotton exports (from December 2017 to February 2018) increased by 181.6 percent to reach 379,700 tons against 134,800 tons during the same quarter of the previous year.

In 2018, the ministry announced it will increase areas used for cotton cultivation to reach 216,000 feddans to meet increasing demand from foreign countries.