Egypt is increasingly reverting to scientific geographical information to upgrade agriculture and land use, Sherine Nasr reports In 2010, the Crops Inventory and Agricultural Acreage and Yield Estimations (CIPA) project in the Nile Valley and Delta was concluded. Conducted by leader in geographical information IGN France International and the Egyptian Agricultural Research Centre (ARC), the project aimed at providing decision-makers with reliable information on how to tailor agricultural policy, as well as equipping them with a better understanding of Egypt's agricultural production potential. "The project covered the entire Nile Valley and Delta. It includes a crop inventory, an evaluation of wheat and cotton yields and an inventory of the various types of irrigation among other aspects," said ARC Chairman Ayman Abu Hadid, speaking at a seminar held this week to mark 20 years of Egyptian-French agricultural cooperation. According to CIPA Project Director Mosaad Kotb, fieldwork was done and the necessary information collected using very high resolution satellite images. The know-how was transferred to the ARC, with the aim of providing the centre with a robust and reproducible methodology that will allow Egyptian experts to later check and update the country's statistical agricultural data. According to Adel El-Beltagui, chairman of the Agricultural Research and Development Council (ARDC), advanced technologies play an essential role in the development of agricultural strategies. In 2009, a comprehensive report titled Sustainable Agricultural Development Strategy Towards 2030 was produced jointly by the Ministry of Agriculture and different stakeholders in the agricultural sector with the ultimate goal of reaching food security. "Although agriculture's share in the overall GDP has declined steadily from 20 per cent in 1980s to about 14 per cent in 2009, the agriculture sector remains a significant contributor to the Egyptian economy," said El-Beltagui. He added that agriculture is the main source of livelihood for about 55 per cent of the Egyptian population, and it will continue to be a primary source of income and employment. El-Beltagui underlined that a business plan was formulated to modernise Egyptian agriculture based on achieving food security and improving the livelihood of the rural inhabitants through the efficient use of natural resources. "Sustainability of natural resources will always be central to meeting the plan's objectives," said El-Beltagui. He went on to say that among the main objectives are the increase of field irrigation efficiency from 50 to 75 per cent in five million feddans of land in the Nile Delta and Valley and the improvement of field irrigation systems in 2.1 million feddans in new land, while saving 10 billion square metres of water to be invested in the reclamation and cultivation of new lands.
