Minister of Public Business Sector Hisham Tawfik visited the East Owainat region, where he inspected the experience of cultivating short staple cotton successfully for the first time in Egypt on one of the farms belonging to the National Company for Reclamation and Cultivation of Desert Land.
The farm is located in the heart of the Egyptian desert, 50 km from the border with Sudan and 300 km from the border with Libya.
At the outset of the tour, an explanatory video of the stages of the experiment of cultivating short staple cotton in East Owainat on an area of about 219 feddans was reviewed, using mechanization methods in agriculture, as well as the harvesting, which is scheduled to take place before the end of September.
Officials from the ministries of agriculture and the public business sector accompanied the minister during the tour.
The experiment comes within the framework of an initiative by the Ministry of Public Business Sector, under the supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture.
In his speech, the Minister thanked the Ministry of Agriculture, stressing that it aims to replace Egypt's imports of short-staple cotton and its products of yarn, fabrics and ready-made clothes, estimated at about $3 billion annually, in addition to providing foreign currency, increasing employment with local resources and create new job opportunities.
He also stressed the interest in promoting the long-staple Egyptian cotton system, and the efforts made to maintain its quality and improve it to increase its price and exports, restoring the throne of "white gold" globally.
The minister referred in this regard to the new cotton trading system that is applied in 4 governorates for the 2020 season with the aim of developing trade systems by identifying centers to receive cotton from farmers as well as conducting public auctions for traders, in addition to the comprehensive development of cotton spinning and weaving factories affiliated with the public business sector.
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