the research and innovation system in egypt - ARTI Puglia

Fig. 1 Distribution of GDP in Egypt in 2001
Trade, Finance &
Insurance
21%
Hotels and
Restaurants
2%
Housing
and Real
Estate
2%
Government Services
7%
Transportation
9%
Construction
6%
Electricity
2%
Petroleum &
Products
8%
Industry &
Mining
20%
Social and Personal
Services
7%
Agricolture
16%
Source: UNIDO
1.3. Land, Agriculture and Crops
Warm weather and plentiful water permit several crops a year. Land is worked intensively
and yields are high. Cotton, rice, wheat, corn, sugarcane, sugar beets, onions, and beans
are the principal crops. Increasingly, a few modern techniques are applied to producing
fruits, vegetables and flowers, in addition to cotton, for export. Further improvement is
possible. The most common traditional farms occupy one acre (4.000 m²) each, typically in
a canal-irrigated area along the banks of the Nile.
Several researchers questioned the domestic (and import) policies for dealing with the socalled
the “wheat game” since the former Minister of Agriculture Youssef Wali was in office.
In 2006, areas planted with wheat in Egypt exceeded 400 thousand acres (1.600 km²)
producing approximately 8 million metric tons. The domestic supply price farmers receive
in Egypt is 1.200 (US$ 211) per ton compared to approximately EGP 1940 (US$ 340) per
ton for import from the USA, Egypt’s main supplier of wheat and corn. Egypt is, in fact,
the U.S.’s largest market for wheat and corn sales, accounting for US$1 billion annually
and about 46% of Egypt’s needs from imported wheat. Other sources of imported wheat,
include Kazakhstan, Canada, France, Syria, Argentina and Australia. There are plans to
increase the areas planted with wheat up to nearly 3 million acres (12.000 km²) by 2017 to
narrow the gap between domestic food supply and demand.
The Western Desert accounts for about two-thirds of the country’s land area. For the
most part, it is a massive sandy plateau marked by seven major depressions. One of
these, Fayoum, was connected about 3.600 years ago to the Nile by canals. Today, it is an
important irrigated agricultural area.
14 the research and innovation system in Egypt