CAIRO – 18 May 2022: More than 2.14 million tons of wheat has been collected from farmers so far in Egypt, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli said on Wednesday.
During a meeting for the Cabinet in the New Administrative Capital, Madbouli said the wheat supply system is operating with high efficiency.
He noted that the authorities closely follow up on this file and the measures taken to pay the dues of the farmers who supply the required wheat.
Spokesman For the Ministry of Agriculture Mohamed el Kersh said earlier this month that Egypt's new silos are now receiving 5.6 million tons of wheat in a way compatible with wheat storage standards to achieve self-sufficiency of the grain.
In TV statements, he said the Toshka area is one of emerging farmlands in Egypt after the state managed to provide new investments it needs especially in the fields of water and electricity.
He added that 220,000 feddans were cultivated with wheat this year, despite some challenges topped by water scarcity.
According to Kersh, the Egyptian state is now reclaiming 3.6 million feddans to increase wheat production.
Egypt is currently suffering from a crisis of wheat supply from the conflicting Russia and Ukraine, the two biggest wheat importers to Egypt.
The government is targeting to increase the area of the wheat crops by 1.5 million feddans over the next three years in accordance with a new study conducted by the Egyptian Cabinet's Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC).
Egyptian Minister of Agriculture El Sayyed El Qusseir announced in a statement in April that India has been recognized as a new country of origin for importing wheat within the framework of the state’s plan to open new sources of importing wheat as a strategic commodity.
Before the ratification, the Egyptian Ministry has sent a delegation headed by the chairperson of the Pest Risk Analysis Section at the Ministry Islam Farahat to India to study the feasibility of importing the Indian wheat to soften the effects resulting from the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, climate change crises and drought that may threaten food security.
Over the past month, the Egyptian delegation was briefed on the Indian phytosanitary systems, inspection and control of grain exports and methods of pest control and resistance, said Farahat.
The delegation also visited grain stores in different regions like Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Mumbai, and other areas of wheat cultivation to check the export procedures and the government laboratories approved by the Indian Agricultural Quarantine, Farahat continued.
Egyptian Prime Minister Mustafa Mabdouli announced on April 4 that Egypt’s wheat stock for domestic consumption is sufficient for 2.6 months, adding that the government has allocated EGP 1.1 billion to the Supply Commodities Authority and the Agricultural Bank of Egypt for purchasing the local wheat from the local farmers.
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