The Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation has contracted e-finance to develop and operate the ministry's electronic system for fertilizer trading, as part of the digital agricultural network AgriNet. According to that contract, e-finance will automate all procedures of fertilizer distribution at 5,700 associations, the company's agricultural outlets, and fertilizer-producing factories, as well as real-time follow-up of shipping operations, transportation, and delivery from factories to local agricultural associations. This contract comes as a continuation of the joint cooperation between the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation and e-finance in designing, establishing, operating, and managing the digital agricultural network and maximizing the benefit from the agricultural holdings project and what has been achieved in terms of building a central database for holders and operating and disseminating the system to all associations and departments and the agricultural directorates through inventorying and mechanizing the cultivated areas and crops, issuing and operating the smart farmer card by linking with the holdings system, and activating the integrated electronic agricultural platform, AgriNet. After signing the contract, Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Elsayed Elkosayer praised the effort involved in managing the digital agricultural network in cooperation with the e-finance group for financial and digital investments, and said that activating the electronic system for fertilizer control will contribute to increasing the efficiency of the distribution process and real-time follow-up of shipping and transport operations from the factories to the local agricultural associations and the agricultural company's outlets, with making available all operations follow-up reports to the Ministry in its specialized departments, to ensure that the subsidized fertilizers reach farmers and prevent manipulation during the various stages of their circulation. He added that the new fertilizer control system will serve more than 5 million farmers and contribute to the governance of the exchange operations for about 50 million fertilizer packages, and the support will reach those who deserve it. Ibrahim Sarhan, Chairperson of e-finance, expressed his pride in the joint cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture since the start of work on implementing the agricultural holdings project, and the establishment and management of the digital agricultural network with all its components, so that the electronic system for fertilizer trading comes today, stressing the continuation of joint efforts to support the agricultural sector in a way that enhances its economic and developmental role as one of the most important and vital sectors with first support and development. Hossam El-Gawly, Managing Director of e-finance, explained that the company will issue smart cards for agricultural associations, outlets of the Egyptian Company for Agricultural and Rural Development, and fertilizer factories. He added that e-finance will link all agricultural associations to the network. The network aims to tighten control over the trading of subsidized fertilizers through digital technologies is one of the priorities of the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation to ensure the provision of the best service to farmers, advance the efforts of the agricultural fertilizer industry, and achieve control over its distribution system. The electronic system for managing and distributing subsidized fertilizer eliminates manipulations and loopholes that can be exploited for illegal profit, especially in the presence of government support. This system provides a direct update of all data related to distribution and circulation, which enables decision-makers to directly identify the progress of the process, determine the scope of demand, and determine the actual local market requirements, and the surplus of it for export.
