Alaa Farouk, Egypt's Agriculture Minister, said late Wednesday that Egypt expects to harvest ten million tonnes of wheat in 2018, up from nine million in 2023. This is due to improved crop yields, and ambitious land reclamation initiatives.

He stated that 3.1175 millions feddans (1.30 million hectares), slightly less than the 3.5million feddans announced by the Planning Ministry earlier this year, and 3.2million feddans (1.34million hectares) in 2024. This suggests a possible decrease in the total wheat area.

Wheat has been reported to be less profitable than crops such as beet. This year, the area of beet increased from 500,000 to 700,000 feeddans.

The government intends to import 6 million tonnes and buy 4 million tonnes of local grain to supply heavily subsidised bread to over 69 millions Egyptians.

Farouk stated that newer high yield wheat strains developed at the Agricultural Research Center had increased productivity by 7-8.5%.

He said, "This is a vertical expansion and we are going to see horizontal expansion."

This horizontal expansion will be led by Mostakbal Misr, a military-affiliated organization for Sustainable Development. It plans to reclaim four million feddans in the entire country.

Farouk stated that some of the land was ready for production, and the remainder will follow within the next two-years. This presents a great opportunity for agricultural investments.

Farouk, who is the spokesperson for Mostakbal Misr and was recently given responsibility for wheat imports in the country, said that they are also building infrastructure and cultivating crops for local consumption, exports, and agriprocessing.

Farouk refused to comment on the revenue flow from its operations and referred the matter to Finance Ministry.

I was unable immediately to reach the Finance Minister for a comment.

Farouk said the government is examining a possible rise in local fertilizer price. The cost of producing urea and nitrate fertilisers is around 9,500 Egyptian pounds (185 dollars) per ton, but they are sold for a subsidised 4,500 dollars ($87.63). Farouk stated that export prices can reach as high as 20,000 pounds (389.48 dollars).

The price increase was pushed by fertilizer firms who are required to sell 55% at a discounted rate in exchange for natural gas subsidised.

Farouk stated that Egypt will also overhaul its commodities exchange, which is underperforming, to allow direct crop trading. This would require regulatory amendments, which Farouk expects to be finished this year.

$1 = 51.35 Egyptian pounds

1 feddan = 0,42 hectare (Reporting and writing by Ahmed Hagagy; editing by Ed Osmond).

(source: Reuters)