Rice agriculture area to be reduced from 1.7M to 724K feddans

CAIRO - 27 January 2018: Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Mohamed Abdel Aty decided to reduce the rice agriculture area in Egypt from 1,700,000 feddans to 724,200 feddans (1 feddan = 1.038 acres).

The idea of reducing the rice agriculture area was first proposed in 2015, to be decreased from 1,100,000 feddans to 724,200 feddans, then after consulting the group of economic ministries, the decision was withdrawn to avoid any shortage in local market that may lead to increase the prices; therefore, the area was increased to 1,100,000 feddans again.

The highest rice production through the past 10 years was in in 2007/2008, as it reached 7.3 million tons, while the lowest was in 2010, as it reached only 4.3 million tons, according to the Central Agency for Capital Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).


Rice production in Egypt cc CAPMAS
According to CAPMAS, the five highest areas in producing rice in the year 2014/2015 are Dakahlia governorate, producing 1.7 million tons; Kafr el-Sheikh with 1.1 million tons; Sharqia with 0.9 million tons; Beheira with 0.6 million tons; and Gharbia with 0.4 million tons.


Geographical Distribution for Rice Production in Egypt (CAPMAS)


Governorates Distribution on Map for rice production -Year 2014/2015 - CAPMAS
The majority of rice is grown under irrigated conditions in which the fields are flooded from planting to harvest. Because of this flooding, rice is said to use a lot of water, about two and a half times the amount of water needed to grow a crop of wheat or maize, according to the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).