The GATT agreements, however, make it difficult for Egypt to sell
its produce on the European markets.
Wheat production is of special relevance for Egypt for various reasons:
• If the country is dependent on wheat imports to a considerable extent,
this might be used as a political weapon against it.
• Water requirements for growing wheat are relatively low (see Table 8.5).
If other field crops with a greater water demand were to be cultivated
instead, this might create problems, as there is already a water shortage
in Egypt today.
From the point of view of the farmers, some other aspects are relevant:
• The cultivation of wheat is less labour intensive than that of most other
crops, e.g. cotton.
• Wheat straw is an important fodder in Egypt, where animal feed is scarce.
In the 1980s the price of straw was sometimes higher than that of the wheat
itself. When the state tried to introduce a Mexican type of high-yielding
wheat as part of the Green Revolution, the farmers refused to grow it
although its yields of grain were higher than those of the local types of
wheat. The reason they gave for this was that the stalks were short and
not suitable as animal fodder.
• After the liberalization of Egyptian agriculture the cultivation of wheat
started being profitable, while during the 1980s the farmers grew wheat
unwillingly since the state, as the only buyer, paid very low prices. At the
time they were only 68 per cent of the world market price which the state
had to pay for the wheat it imported from abroad (Hamdan 1984a: 267).
its produce on the European markets.
Wheat production is of special relevance for Egypt for various reasons:
• If the country is dependent on wheat imports to a considerable extent,
this might be used as a political weapon against it.
• Water requirements for growing wheat are relatively low (see Table 8.5).
If other field crops with a greater water demand were to be cultivated
instead, this might create problems, as there is already a water shortage
in Egypt today.
From the point of view of the farmers, some other aspects are relevant:
• The cultivation of wheat is less labour intensive than that of most other
crops, e.g. cotton.
• Wheat straw is an important fodder in Egypt, where animal feed is scarce.
In the 1980s the price of straw was sometimes higher than that of the wheat
itself. When the state tried to introduce a Mexican type of high-yielding
wheat as part of the Green Revolution, the farmers refused to grow it
although its yields of grain were higher than those of the local types of
wheat. The reason they gave for this was that the stalks were short and
not suitable as animal fodder.
• After the liberalization of Egyptian agriculture the cultivation of wheat
started being profitable, while during the 1980s the farmers grew wheat
unwillingly since the state, as the only buyer, paid very low prices. At the
time they were only 68 per cent of the world market price which the state
had to pay for the wheat it imported from abroad (Hamdan 1984a: 267).
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