Agriculture_E

Agriculture in Egypt page created by Tiana-Renée, Matthew, and James

Agriculture in Egypt plays a key role in Egypt's economy and development. In 2001 agriculture accounted for approximately 17% of the total GDP of the nation. While Egypt is mostly desert, only 3% of its land is suitable for farming; the country's average amount of land per capita is among the lowest in the world (lower than Bangladesh). This is accounted for, though, with the ability to crop more than once per year.

Egypt's agricultural energy provides a great deal of jobs to the general population; roughly 40% of Egypt's labor force works with agriculture in one way or another (on the contrary, 0.6% of the US's labor force works in agriculture). In 1999 agriculture accounted for 20% of commodity exports.

The most important crop in Egypt's history has been cotton, the main stable crop of Egypt; 243,000 tons of cotton were produced in 2000. About 561,000 acres of Egypt's total 8.1 million acres of arable land is used for the production of cotton, that is about 7% of Egypt's total arable land. However cotton is not the only important crops grown in Egypt, wheat, corn, sugarcane, fruit, vegetables, fodder and rice are all main crops which contribute effectively to Egypt's agriculture. Wheat and rice are both important crops for Egypt, their production has increased over the past decades.

Today, 95% of the production of wheat and rice is used for domestic consumption.

An agrarian reform that was introduced by the Egyptian government in 1952 greatly impacted the amount of land that could be held by any individual in Egypt. It stated that no person could own more than 190 feddans for farming(1 feddan = 0.42 hectares = 1.03 acres). With this land, the owner must farm it himself or rent it under conditions specified by the government.

In 1961, the limit was reduced to 100 feddans.

Additional land must be sold to the government in exchange for low-interest bonds that can be redeemed 40 years later.

As a result of this reform, the redistribution of land has provided 300,000 families with small plots for subsistence farming.

This image is an aerial view of the Nile Delta, where almost all of Egypt's arable land is located.



**information** [|United States Agriculture] [|USDA Economic Department Service] [|Nations Encyclopedia - Egypt Agriculture] [|Nations Encyclopedia - Egypt] [|How Stuff Works] [|World Resources Institution]

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