The Egyptian government hopes to achieve 75-percent self-sufficiency in terms of wheat production by 2017, Minister of Agriculture Amin Abaza said on Thursday. The minster explained that the plan aimed to reduce crop waste during the various phases of production, rationalize consumption and augment the use of agricultural mechanization in the harvesting, packaging and transport phases. According to ministry figures, 2.85 million acres of wheat have already been cultivated for the new season as part of a wider strategy to cultivate a total of 3.1 million acres, compared to 2.8 million acres last year. A recent report by the ministry noted that the final count of areas already under cultivation would be completed and announced next week. “We hope to increase productivity to 20 ardebs per acre instead of the 16 ardebs per acre recorded last year,” said Mohamed Nofal, head of the ministry's central department for land and irrigation. “This means a total increase of 12 million ardebs compared to 2010.” Translated from the Arabic Edition.
