Egypt's General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) made a new tender offer this week for the import of 230,000 tons of American and French wheat at a per-ton cost of between US$317 and US$324, representing a US$20-per-ton increase from last week's tender offer. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, 1,490,000 acres of land have been cultivated in Egypt this season. This year's target, according to the ministry, was to cultivate a total of 3,100, 000 acres of land by the end of the year as compared to 2,700,000 acres last year. Salah Youssef, head of the ministry's agricultural service, for his part, said that prevailing weather conditions in Egypt were suitable for growing wheat. He went on to note that farmers had been made aware of the most suitable season for growing the strategic crop, which ends in late December. Youssef told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the government hoped to increase per-acre wheat yields in order to achieve a degree of self sufficiency, reduce reliance on wheat imports, and avoid the negative effects of waning global wheat supplies. Youssef also said that plans were currently underway for increasing the use of wheat seed in the coming seasons and for encouraging its use among wheat farmers through awareness campaigns and by subsidizing wheat seed. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
