CAIRO: The Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation will announce new lands for recent graduates in Egyptian governorates after Eid el-Fitr. The Ministry will also announce the rules of distribution of land. There are more than 100,000 acres to be distributed among the youth in the first phase, according to the study submitted to the Egyptian Cabinet. Minister of Agriculture Salah Farag said the new rules cover the priority of giving land to goverorates' youth, particularly in the Sinai Peninsula and al-Salam Canal. Farag said the agricultural policy after Egypt's January 25 Revolution refers to the necessity of turning to agriculture to fill the supply gap of certain crops like oil plants, which cover less than 9 percent of domestic consumption. Farag encouraged youth to plant Egyptian cotton to meet the demands of the spinning and textile factories in order to achieve self-sufficiency and export cotton abroad. The project also aims to achieve self-sufficiency in wheat production through presenting young farmers with the global prices of wheat and high quality seeds to increase their income by producing approximately 3,600 kg per acre.
