Introduction

by

Prof. Dr. Faris El-Lakwah

Plant Protection Dept. Faculty of Agriculture at Moshtohor, Zagazig University

Egypt covers a land area of slightly more than one million square kilometres. Just about 2.5% (2.53 million ha) are cultivated and 3.55 are inhabited by 59 million people. The remainder is largely uninhabited desert. Thus, the few populated areas, mainly the fertile Nile banks and the Nile delta reach extremely high population densities of 1480 people/km2 and more.

The number of persons per cultivated ha reaches an average ratio of 20/1 today, which is considered extremely high. In Germany and in the European Community the respective figures are 7/1 and 3/1.

The combination of fertile soil, plentiful water, and a mild climate make Egyptian agriculture one of the most productive agricultural systems in the world. With about 3.5 million farmers cultivating holdings that average approximately 2 acres in size, production

is intensive and yields are some of the highest in the world.

In Egypt, the problems focus around the management of the scarce resources - land and water - in order to meet the growing demand of a population which increases by 2.3% on average annually.

Government policy is to increase production by expanding cultivated area by reclaiming desert lands and by increasing yields. The government is still committed to achieving a significant level of self-sufficiency and security in the strategic crops such as wheat and rice.

Statistical data on national crop yield indicate that the yield of most widely grown crops including cereals has considerably increased during the last decade.

Since the initiation of structural reform in 1986, the government of Egypt has liberalised the marketing of inputs and outputs. Decontrol of the production and marketing of most crops and decreased subsidisation of inputs have contributed to making agriculture the most privatised sector of the Egyptian economy. The results of privatisation under the structural adjustment program are promising.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation (MOA) has succeeded in producing high-yielding wheat and rice varieties and started campaigns to convince farmers to grow yellow corn instead of white corn to be used for the production of poultry feed.

Cereal grains and legumes are an important food source for Egypt's population. Therefore, the government has directed efforts and initiates programs to increase the production of grains, especially wheat, by increasing the cultivated areas and the yield as well as by decreasing losses caused by pre- and post-harvest pests.

The production of grains and main pulses in Egypt demonstrated in Table(1) indicates that the production of wheat and rice significantly increased during the period from 1989 to 1993 by approximately 50%.

At present, Egypt produces about 15 million tons of grain, including 4.8 millions tons of wheat per year.

Safe grain storage methods are thus of fundamental importance to ensure food supply from one harvest to the other (Piltz, 1984).

Cereal grains should be handled and stored under conditions that minimize the opportunities for stored products pests to cause economic damage. This could be achieved by good design and maintenance of stores, regular inspections and quality control of stored commodities, good storage practices and performances of appropriate pest control measures.

Egypt's limited arable land coupled with a large and expanding population lead to a reliance on food imports to meet one-half of food demand.

Wheat, corn, vegetable oils, meat, and dairy products are the major imported commodities.

Egyptian people do not suffer from malnutrition, rather they have one of the world's highest per capita caloric consumption levels. Even though the average caloric intake is sufficient, obesity and its associated disorders are more likely to be a greater health problem than nutrition.