The Egyptian Minister of Agriculture Al-Sayed el-Quseir said that the state took a series of measures to support farmers, after fertilizer prices witnessed an increase in October, where the cost of a ton reached EGP 14,000 instead of EGP 4,000.
In a speech to President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi during the inauguration of national projects in Aswan, El-Qusair stressed that the state is ready to meet the needs of all farmers to maximize their productive value, stressing the ministry has waived off debts owed to farmers, amounting to EGP 2.2 billion Egyptian, and that 148,000 people benefited from this initiative.
The minister indicated that the ministry is now reconsidering the fertilizer map for agricultural lands; as the last update was approved in the 80s.
He reviewed the state's efforts in the field of agriculture in Upper Egypt over the past 7 years, including sustainable agricultural projects, horizontal expansion of agricultural lands, farmer support services, export support, livestock development and digital transformation.
He noted that 241 projects were launched at a cost of EGP 17 billion, benefiting 600,000 citizens, and 550,000 feddans were added to the arable lands there.
He pointed out that the state developed sugar cane crops in Upper Egypt, as it was the most productive there, and that the state added 15 million seedlings, with a plan to increase these numbers to 50 million to support the sugar cane industry.
"The ministry had recently established locust control centers to stop the damage to crops, and indicated that 25 new milk collection centers had been created to support and develop the livestock sector, in addition to establishing a group of veterinary units and increasing livestock insurance," he added.
El-Qusair explained that the ministry had paid EGP 33 million in compensation in Upper Egypt for cases of livestock deaths, noting to the development of research to introduce a complete genetic improvement of livestock.
He added, "8 regions have been identified in Upper Egypt to invest in poultry and to maximize production capacity in this field."
Regarding fisheries, Al-Qusayr affirmed that the ministry has taken a set of measures to increase fish production by releasing 225 million tilapia fish into the Nile.
He indicated that several projects are being implemented to support digital transformation, 1.3 million farmer's cards have been printed, with 530,000 cards delivered so far.
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