A recent report revealed that the Egyptian government aims to increase its exports of agricultural products to reach $5.7 billion during the next fiscal year, compared to about $5.4 billion expected exports during the current fiscal year, an increase of about 5.5%.
The Ministry of Planning and Economic Development stated that this increase will enhance the agricultural sector’s contribution to total Egyptian merchandise exports other than petroleum products to about 15%.
This comes through expanding the export of crops with an export surplus, especially vegetables and fruits, and intensive promotion in traditional markets in Western Europe, whose demand for Egyptian agricultural products has grown significantly during the current crisis.
At the same time, promising new markets will be directed in Africa, East and South Asia, and some Latin American countries, especially after the expansion of organic farming, within the framework of preserving the integrity of the environmental system and the requirements of sustainable development.
The report revealed that it is intended to increase the cropped area during the new fiscal year plan 2023/2024 to bring the total area to about 18 million acres.
He pointed out that the plan aims to expand the areas designated for wheat cultivation to reach 3.43 million acres, corn cultivation to 2.8 million acres, and fava bean cultivation to 220 thousand acres, pointing out that within the framework of the 2023/2024 plan, it is intended to increase the percentage of self-sufficiency in wheat. And maize to 49%, beans to 30%, red meat to 70%, and fish to 98%, with an export surplus of many varieties of vegetable and fruit crops.
Regarding the quantitative targets of the programs supporting agricultural development, the report indicated that they are represented in expanding the application of the contract farming system to include many basic crops, bringing the system’s output to 3.4 million tons in the year of the plan, compared to about 1.2 million tons in 2014.
In addition to the expansion of the protected cultivation system within the framework of the national project to establish 100,000 greenhouses, adding 900 greenhouses in the year of the plan to spread modern technologies and achieve water savings, as well as expanding the production of selected seeds for strategic crops such as wheat, maize, cotton, soybeans and sunflowers in order to double the coverage rates of 35% to 70% in the 2024 season, when the needs of seeds are estimated at about 220 thousand tons for ten basic crops.
The storage capacities of the silos will be increased to reach about 5.5 million tons, with the addition of 50 new silos, and the extension of the pilot fields to more than 7,000 fields to improve the agricultural productivity of the wheat crop, in addition to establishing a database to measure soil fertility to estimate appropriate fertilizer rates, and expanding the application of the card system. Smart farms, adding about 400 thousand new cards.
