CAIRO - Many people are calling for urgently drawing up a national plan to rescue the agricultural exports sector, which is vital to the national economy. Regrettably, thousand of tonnes of agricultural products go rotten, because of delays in their exportation; another problem is the increase in the number of ‘lorryjackings'. Egypt, with its wonderful climate and geographical location, should be exporting far more than LE25 billion-worth of agricultural produce every year. Sherif el-Beltagui, the head of the Export Council for Agricultural Produce, says that there are many problems with the exportation of such produce, whether by air or sea. “Egypt has no strategy or system for exporting its agricultural produce,” says Yasser Mohameedein, an agricultural engineer, while Abdel-Karim Sultan, the manager of the Exporting Potatoes Centre in Kafr el-Zayat in the Delta stresses that farmers need to be made more aware of the available export opportunities. “Much of our cultivated land is suffering from brown rot; foreign importers reject the whole consignment if they find just one rotten vegetable or piece of fruit,” he explains. Mahmoud Emara, an agricultural expert and exporter, told Al-Ahram semi-official newspaper that the European market is very important, but it is very strict, demanding documents with details of cultivation, irrigation, harvesting, wrapping and packaging methods. “Local farmers need to be given training courses in all of this,” says Emara, adding that this would prevent him incurring losses. “The whole system is fraught with problems, starting with the seeds,” stresses Morsi Nufal, another agricultural engineer, adding Egypt has plenty of land and water, allowing it to expand this sector. “Look at Israel. It has to recycle seawater, yet it manages to export millions of tonnes of agricultural produce per annum. Unfortunately, the Egyptian farmer is unable to export what he has cultivated.” Nufal notes that many peasants have no idea about up-to-date cultivation techniques, often misusing fertilisers and insecticides. “Consequently, the quality of the produce suffers. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Agriculture doesn't control this sector or offer the farmers any advice,” he adds. Professor of Economy at the National Planning Institute Samir Moustafa wonders why the Government is buying agricultural land in African countries like South Sudan, Kenya and Burundi.
