Vermiculture in Egypt: - FAO - Regional Office for the Near East and

Table 5.2. The main types of fertilizers used in Egypt
Element Fertilizer
Nitrogen - urea (46.5 percent N)
- ammonium nitrate (33.5 percent N)
- ammonium sulphate (20.6 percent N)
- calcium nitrate (15.5 percent N)
Phosphate - single superphosphate (15 percent P 2 O 5 )
- concentrated superphosphate (37 percent P 2 O 5 )
Potassium - potassium sulphate (48 to 50 percent K 2 O)
Mixed and
compound
fertilizers
Source: FAO (2005).
- potassium chloride (50 to 60 percent K 2 O)
-N, P, K, Fe, Mn, Zn and/or Cu in different formulations for
either soil or foliar application. The micronutrient may be in
either mineral or chelated form.
The improvement in fertilizers production is achieved through the last decades. The
total production quantity of fertilizers is approximately reaches to 2 million Mt, 32%
of the total production is exported. The remaining quantity of production after
exporting is less than the demand quantity by about 43%. Therefore, Egypt
compensates the shortage in the demands by importing fertilizers by about 43% of the
total consumption. Figure (5.1.) illustrates the increasing trend of fertilizers
production and export. This increase is mainly due to the rapid agricultural horizontal
and vertical expansion.
1000 tonnes
3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Production Import Export
Figure 5.1.Production, imports and exports (1000 tonnes of nutrients) trends of
fertilizers in Egypt
Source: FAO ( 2010).
47