Second Gaber El-Karmouty is going to host Sakina Fouad tonight on ON TV 11 CLT.
Now there is another X-file related to the wheat we should discuss , our current imports from wheat.
What caught my and others’ attention was that the imported quantity from 1987 and even to 2014 is not more than 6 million tons !!?? 6 million tons are constant in a strange way.
I can’t find the source of this table and by doing a little online short search I found that last year we imported 8 millions ton !! I also found out that minister of trade Rashid stated that we are targeting to import 6 million tons in 2010-2011.
Speaking of numbers here are some wheat related numbers.
- According to the international grain council here is our local production since 1996 to 2007 in million metric ton :
| 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
| 5.7 | 5.8 | 6.00 | 6.3 | 6.6 | 6.3 | 6.6 | 6.8 | 7.2 | 8.1 | 8.3 | 7.4 |
- There are about 13 foreign companies that control our imports of wheat with agents in Egypt.
- There are 6 Egyptian companies only that import wheat.
- These Egyptian companies import not more than 10% of our imports. “Another X”
- The minister of agriculture now is speaking about an attempt to reach for 60% self sufficiency after being criticized in the past few weeks. Amazingly in this statement Amin Abaza says that in the next harvest Egyptian farmers will use our seed instead lower quality seed as I understand !!? what is that “our seed” and what is “lower quality seed” !!?? and why did the ministry of agriculture distribute “lower quality seed” on the farmers !!??
The UN has warned from a food crisis in Egypt that will hit the country very soon as a result of wheat shortage , the thing which was denied by the minister of trade Rashid whom I doubt just like anyone else in the government.
Wait for more coverage and more follow up to this explosive file.
"FYI Egyptian farmers get the seeds from ministry of agriculture."
ReplyDeleteAppalling. No wonder Egypt's economy, including wheat farming, is in a shambles. Farmers should choose seeds available in the marketplace based on their expert judgment as farmers, taking into account price, yield, disease resistance, drought tolerance, local conditions -- and even alternative crops! But no: They must plant what the Minister of Agriculture tells them to plant.
That's not the only avoidable tragedy. Egypt subsidizes bread, which creates shortages, as people buy more bread and less alternative staples because of the artificially low price. In addition, Egypt caps the price of bread, creating a disincentive to bake it. The price cap also lowers the value of wheat and creates a disincentive for farmers to grow it.
It's an insane set of policies, and much like the old Soviet system which eventually collapsed.
Egypt’s Problem and Its Challenge: Bread Corrupts
Price Ceilings at Work in Egypt