Participants at the 15th French Grains Conference, held in Cairo on Thursday, predicted more heat waves and floods in different parts of the world, which, they warned, would likely affect global wheat production amid ever-increasing demand. Total global wheat production this year stands at 644 million tons, representing a 36-million ton decrease on last year's total. According to French Grains Association President Jean-Pierre Langlois-Berthelot, France intends to raise its annual wheat exports to Egypt to three million tons. “In terms of French grain imports, this will put Egypt in second place after Algeria, which currently imports four million tons per year,” he said. He also denied speculation that France was considering the cultivation of grain in Africa or the Nile Basin for export to the Arab market. Langlois-Berthelot went on to point out that French wheat exports to Egypt were modified to meet Egyptian standards, with a maximum humidity rate of 14 percent and a 12-percent protein content. He also stressed that France does not apply genetic engineering methods to its national wheat crop. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
