Egypt tops the world’s countries in terms of rice, sugar cane and corn production, according to Deputy Prime Minister Yousef Wali.
Production of cereals has increased this year to reach 19.5 million tons, and cotton has shown similar improvement, local press reports quoted the deputy PM as saying.
“The agricultural sector has recorded big achievements during President Mubarak’s tenure, including an increase in the area of cultivated land from 6.4 to eight million acres in 2000,” the minister added.
Wali said that new laws, including a decrease in the leasing rates of desert land, were behind the renaissance witnessed in the agricultural sector.
He also emphasized the importance of a resolution on the transfer of new land ownership to those who cultivate it in the Sinai Penisula, a first in Egyptian history.
The official stressed that this resolution alone had contributed to the cultivation of a quarter million acres by the Egyptian private sector - Albawaba.com
