Recent reports reveal that Egypt’s rice export increased during the current agricultural season of 2000/2001 reached approximately 357,000 tons, according to Al-Ahram daily. This amount reflects a 19 percent increase compared with exports from the corresponding period of the previous year, when these stood at 300,000 tons.
Egyptians officials anticipate that rice exports will continue to climb, reaching some 600,000 tons by the end of season 2000/2001, this coming November. This amount is valued at an estimated 750 million Egyptian pounds ($198.9 million).
The same officials added that all Egyptian agricultural exports had marked increases, with rice exports topping the list. Reasons for this are attributed to government support programs of the nation’s agricultural sector.
Currently, the agricultural sector constitutes approximately 17 percent of the country’s GDP. Furthermore, while 2.8 percent of Egypt’s total 995,000,000 square kilometer land area is arable, only 0.5 percent of this land mass is permanently cultivated. — (MENA Report)
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
