Wheat productivity this season reached 3.22 million feddans and production on each feddan rose by two ardebs (one ardeb=5.62 US bushels) from last year. These statistics suggest that wheat growers made a significant profit this year, taking into account the price of one ardeb of wheat, which is priced by the government at LE270, LE70 higher than the international price. The average productivity of one feddan of wheat is projected to be between 18 and 22 ardebs, compared to 16 to 18 last year, said Abul Abbas Mohamed, president of the Public Association for Agricultural Credit. He added that the use of fertilizers by members boosted productivity across the approximately three million feddans of wheat cultivated this season. Farmers will begin "supplying the Bank for Development and Agricultural Credit with wheat within 20 days," he said, adding "The amount supplied is expected to exceed 3.2 million tons." The Public Association for Agricultural Reform said the Agricultural Credit Bank will be supplied with one million ardebs of wheat, at a minimum rate of 5 ardebs per feddan, as agreed upon with the farmers, said Mahmoud Gharib, head of the association. The agricultural bank is the sole marketer of these farmers' wheat, he added. Despite the increase in the price of wheat from LE240 per ardeb to LE270, the price of a sack of fertilizer will not exceed LE95 this season, said Mahmoud Moselhi, head of the central department for the production of fertilizers at the Ministry of Agriculture. The effort to control fertilizer prices was coordinated with private fertilizer companies which control 30 percent of the wheat fertilizer market in Egypt. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
