CAIRO - Self-sufficiency in food production requires a new agrarian strategy based on agricultural rotation and comprehensive development of the irrigation system. In addition to the continuous disappearance of cultivated land under concrete, Egypt wastes huge amounts of water because of an insistence on traditional immersion irrigation, along with planting huge swathes of land with rice and other crops that consume a lot of water. A report recently issued by a research centre affiliated to the Ministry of Agriculture recommends rationalising water consumption, noting that Egypt's quota of river water has fallen by 7 billion cubic metres, because of lower floodwaters in Ethiopia. If these floodwaters continue to decrease, Egypt will have to withdraw more than 12 billion cubic metres of water from its strategic reserves in Lake Nasser. Researchers predict a continuous drop in available water for the coming 12 years, which will have serious consequences for cultivation if the country doesn't come up with a new irrigation strategy, at a time when Egypt urgently needs to boost its agricultural and food production. Any government that comes to power after the transitional period should consider a new, modern agricultural and irrigation strategy, as well as encouraging more agricultural research, especially into new kinds of crops that need little water. It is also time to overcome the problem of small landholdings that make it difficult to apply an agricultural policy for producing more badly needed strategic corps. The Government should perhaps consider enhancing the co-operative policy that groups small landholdings together or offer farmers incentives to grow the crops the State needs. The Ministry of Agriculture should also revive role of assisting and advising the farmers about crop cultivation, as well as offering them fertilisers, seeds and pesticides at affordable prices. Agriculture and irrigation should be considered as a national project to ensure the people have enough food, so they don't starve in this era of water poverty.
