Egypt is dedicating itself to covered cultivation in desert areas. This offers opportunities for suppliers of starting material. Important Dutch players already have a strong position in Egypt. The request to enter UPOV is an important step for Egypt to get high-quality starting materials at their disposal.
With a population that’s growing considerably, food certainty will remain at the top of the Egyptian agricultural agenda. Egypt is prioritising the development of cultivation lands in the desert. Covered cultivation will become a substantial activity here. Besides an increase in production, Egypt will also have to start prioritising post-harvest processes. Against the background of about 50 per cent storage losses, that is essential for the success of covered cultivations and land reclamation in the desert.
The Netherlands guiding country
The Netherlands, a guiding country for Egypt when it comes to cultivation development, is closely involved in the feasibility study Land Reclamation and Covered Cultivation. Against this background, there are major possibilities for the export of starting materials and agrarian technology. Major players such as Rijk Zwaan, Enza, HZPC and Agrico already have a strong position. The greenhouse builders show much interest.
Considerable increase in population
Food certainty is the absolute first priority of the Egyptian government. With a population of 100 million and a growth percentage of 2.5, the population will increase by 50 million in the next 20 years. It’s an enormous task to maintain the food certainty at the current level at least. The traditional agricultural sector therefore has to modernise. Due to the large labour surplus and the lack of alternative employment outside of agriculture, however, the modernisation process is being halted.
Generating foreign currency
Food certainty can be approached from a number of viewpoints. Firstly, it’s important to have a sustainable production level and a general economic development that generates plenty of foreign currency to buy into the food shortage on the global market. Complete self-sufficiency is therefore not necessary, but this will have to be balanced with the other economic sectors. For example, Egypt is practically the largest citrus producer in the world, and one of the largest producers of tomatoes.
Food import becoming more expensive
Due to the limited availability of foreign currency and the strong devaluation of the Egyptian pound, food certainty has become unbalanced. Food imports have become considerably more expensive, while other sectors cannot yet respond sufficiently to improved export opportunities. In part thanks to the strong growth in population and the expected decreased availability of water for irrigation, the government is dedicating itself to the development of covered cultivation and development of new production areas in the desert.
Good starting materials indispensable
For an increase in production, good starting materials are indispensable. In Egypt, people are familiar with the good Dutch reputation. Traditionally, for example, Egypt is a major buyer of Dutch seed potatoes. The potato sector is successful, and an important exporter of consumption potatoes to the Dutch market as well. Farm Frites is a major booster, who supplies the entire region with frozen potato products from hub Egypt. The success of Farm Frites is naturally also thanks to potato agriculturalists such as HZPC and Agrico.
Organic agriculture on the rise
During the last decade, the cultivation of organic vegetables has been on the rise. In the last five years the vegetable production and lettuce cultivation on hydroponics have also expanded considerably. The successes achieved in this field, are in part thanks to starting materials from seed producers Rijk Zwaan and Enza. Rijk Zwaan is a market leader in lettuce seeds. The company grows by ten per cent each year, and is developing Egypt as a regional hub for development and export of improved seeds.
Joining UPOV
Despite above-mentioned examples illustrating the importance of good starting material and the contributions of Dutch companies, the market for high-quality plant starting materials can’t be optimally utilised. Egypt isn’t a member of UPOV yet, and that has restricted suppliers in marketing patented varieties in Egypt. However, that will soon change, as Egypt recently applied for entry to UPOV. With this, Egypt takes an important step in the development of food certainty. Joining UPOV means the country will get new varieties at its disposal.
Improving the entire production process
Egypt is devoting itself to the development of their covered cultivation. If the investments are only limited to building high-tech greenhouses, the desired increase in production will be achieved to an insufficient extent. It is necessary to push the entire production process to a higher level, so with the input of improved starting materials, the application of organic pesticides and high-quality crop management. Any one of these factors could be the weakest link, having a negative influence on the production.
Organic pesticides
One of the biggest challenges is the transition to organic pesticides. In Egypt there’s a limited supply of BCAs (biological control agents), and for high-tech covered cultivation it’s necessary that certain BCAs are imported. This import is not yet allowed by law. Koppert, one of the global market leaders in organic pesticides, is present in Egypt, but cannot yet market a large number of the necessary BCAs. The cultivation office in Cairo is working intensively on getting this issue on the parliament’s agenda, and maintains good contacts with the sector, which is convinced that organic pesticides are necessary to keep access to the most important export markets.
Source: Agroberichten Buitenland