460,000 Feddans Reclaimed Till End of 2022: National Company for Land Reclamation

As many as 460,000 feddans have been reclaimed till the end of the year 2022, upon directives of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi on expanding the area of the country’s agricultural land, said Chairman of the National Company for Land Reclamation and Agriculture in East Oweinat Major General Tawfeeq Samy.

The chairman was addressing an event held to mark the inauguration of the wheat harvest season in East Oweinat, in the New Valley Governorate, in Upper Egypt. President Sisi alongside senior state officials and ministers were present at the ceremony.

President Sisi's directives on boosting the area of cultivated land aim at reducing imports, a goal which has been prioritized by the company since its inception, said major general Samy during his speech.

As for desert land reclamation, the major general said out of the reclaimed 460,000 feddans, 190,000 feddans have been cultivated in East Oweinat throughout two stages; the first of which was between 1999-2012 when 80,000 feddans have been reclaimed in the area "Oweinat 1".

Between 2014-2022, up to 110,000 have been added to the cultivated zone in the areas of "Oweinat 2" and "Oweinat 3", Samy said.

He added that over 20,000 new feddans have been cultivated in El Farafra and Ein Dalla regions.

East Oweinat is a more than 186,000 feddans desert land reclamation project that started in the New Valley Governorate to produce an annual three million tons of various kinds of agricultural crops.

The harvest season of over 300,000 feddans of wheat has been initiated, with 146,000 feddans being harvested in East Oweinat, 150,000 feddans in Toshka, 4,000 feddans in Ain Dalla along with 4,500 feddans in Farafra, the official said, adding that the total wheat output ranges between 700,000-750,000 tons.

The National Company for Land Reclamation and Agriculture in East Oweinat targets cultivating new 230,000 feddans during the current year 2023; 30,000 of which in Oweinat and 200,000 in Toshka, taking the total area of the reclaimed land to 530,000 feddans, the head of the company said while addressing the inauguration ceremony of the wheat harvest season in East Oweinat.

As for the dates project, the chairman said some 1.5 million date palms have been planted, while the cultivation of the rest of the area is still under way, Samy added.

Agricultural researches carried out by the company have identified a problem facing the project due to shortage in irrigation water, the chairman said, adding that further researches have been conducted on crops and intercropping systems to rationalize the use of irrigation water.

He noted that the 20,000 feddans planted through applying intercropping systems would contribute to boosting the total cultivated area to 550,00 feddans.

As for the agro-manufacturing, Chairman Samy pointed out to the recently opened (MDF) and (HDF) wood factory in Toshka, which has been inaugurated earlier this month with a production capacity of 400 cubic meters per day.

By the end of the current year, about 2.5 million date palms are set to be planted, the major general added.

The company has managed to solve the problem facing investors concerning transporting seeds from Oweinat to coastal cities for preservation in coolers, Samy said, stating that the company has three giant refrigerators and a factory. The seed refrigerators are the largest in the area, having a capacity of 64,000 tons, he added.