The storage of locally produced wheat has proved to be a stumbling stone in the way of improving the quality of subsidised baladi bread. The ad-hoc presidential committee assigned to follow up this file has objected to the so-called ‘dust silos' affiliated to the Agricultural Development Bank, where around two million tonnes are annually stored in 360 silos throughout the country. The problem with these silos is that local wheat, which experts say is far better than imported brands in terms of gelatin and protein percentage, gets mixed with dust and grit. Professor Ahmed Essa, head of the committee, believes that these substandard silos should be dispensed with and replaced by macadamised storing facilities. In the meantime, according to government sources, these silos are indispensable at present because of the large quantities of wheat stored since last year. The situation will therefore remain unchanged for at least this season, given the inability of grinding mills to deal with the large amounts stored at a time, when the production of baladi (subsidised local pita style) bread relies on a blend of local and imported wheat brands. New policies in the future will tend to apply a subsidy system that starts with the stage of bread production rather than subsidise the purchase of wheat from farmers. “For this reason, the government is required to set up silos with standard specifications, since mill owners would never accept having wheat mixed with impurities, when they purchase it at free market prices", Reda Agag member of the committee told Al-Messa Arabic evening daily. He further explained that, under this system, bakeries get flour at cost price, and the state purchases the bread, then sells it to consumers at the current subsidised price of five piastres. According to the same sources, this policy will not be effected until the harvested yield of the new season is handed over and, accordingly, the dust silos would still be in service at least until next June. Experts say that the wheat blend used is the ratio of 60:40, locally produced to imported, which means that some 350,000 tonnes are withdrawn monthly from ‘dust silos'. Meanwhile, quantities of imported wheat already available in silos at seaports and Ministry of Supply companies amount to some 750,000 tonnes. Additional contracted quantities, expected to reach local seaports within two months, are estimated at two million tonnes. The quality of baladi bread on the market has always been the highlight of ministry of supply discussions in the past few years, given recurring consumer complaints. As professor Essa says keeping dust silos in service presents a case of squandering public money if not a crime of graft.
