Government efforts to encourage farmers to deliver their wheat crop to state-owned silos are continuing, with some farmers saying that there have been improvements in delivering wheat to state-owned mills. The collection of the local wheat crop started in mid-April, and it will continue until the end of May. According to official estimates, this year Egypt will have the largest wheat harvest it has ever seen, with the government expecting roughly nine million tonnes of wheat to be harvested from three million feddans countrywide. Officials say that if the government is able to collect enough wheat to fill its silos of up to 4.5 million tonnes, it will be able to reduce wheat imports that are estimated at 10 million tonnes and cost the country around $3 billion annually, saving the country's declining foreign currency reserves. However, some experts have doubts, saying that the government is being overly optimistic about this year's crop and that half of local wheat production does not reach the market because it is often improperly stored. So far during the first two weeks of the wheat harvest, only 285,000 tonnes have been delivered, but the government is targeting 4.5 million tonnes over the next six weeks. To encourage farmers to deliver their wheat, the government is providing them with extra incentives, including a delivery price of LE400 per ardab (150 kg) for top quality wheat and LE385 per ardab for lower quality. Prime Minister Hisham Kandil has said that the money will reach farmers within 24 hours of delivery. Abdel-Fattah Mansour, manager of a branch of the Agricultural Credit and Development Bank in the Daqahliya governorate, said that the bank was committed to paying farmers as soon as they delivered their wheat. “Last week, a farmer delivered his wheat to a state-owned mill at 5pm on Thursday, but the following day the bank was off as it was Friday,” he said. In response to the farmer's complaint at not being paid immediately, Mansour said that the bank had received orders to open especially to make payments on Friday. The minister of supply and internal trade had personally intervened to make sure farmers were paid on time, he said. Some farmers have felt the improvements and believe that the whole process is better organised this year than in previous years. Sayed Metwalli, a farmer in Sharqiya governorate, said that farmers were satisfied this season. “The price is good, and the productivity of wheat has increased to 22 to 25 ardab per feddan in Sharqiya.” Metwalli explained that a farmer who delivered his wheat to a state-owned mill received a cheque the same day but got his money three days later. “But this is good, since we used to have to wait three weeks in previous years to receive the money,” he said. Worries that fuel shortages, common in many governorates over the past few months, might negatively affect the wheat harvest have so far been unfounded. The Ministry of Petroleum is making sure that farmers receive enough fuel during the harvest period, and Metwalli said that no farmers were suffering from shortages in his governorate. Ahmed Abdel-Kader, a farmer in the Daqahliya governorate, agreed that he could get his needs of low-grade diesel fuel to power pumps, tractors and trucks. He cultivated a small piece of land with wheat, and when he harvested the crop he kept three to four ardabs for his own needs, preferring to sell the remaining amount to a trader who picked up wheat from small farmers. “I save on transportation fees and sell wheat at LE385 per tonne compared to LE395 at the mills. Traders facilitate things for us, since they have their own trucks and workers to help carry the wheat,” Abdel-Kader said. However, in some governorates farmers continue to face obstacles. In Kafr Al-Sheikh, farmers complain that mill officials refuse to receive their wheat, claiming it is not up to standard. In response to the farmers' complaints, Governor Saad Al-Husseini has given instructions to solve these problems. In Fayoum, mill officials have refused to take around 300 tonnes of wheat because they said they were mixed with dust when delivered.
