New Delta: Promise for agriculture, urbanisation

New Delta project is part of government strategy to form agro-urban communities managed with the most up-to-date systems

The Egyptian government is pursuing efforts to re-invigorate agriculture with projects aimed at achieving self-sufficiency and surplus for export.

One such project is New Delta.

This entails cultivating reclaimed areas of desert on the Dabaa regional axis with crops suited to the nature of the soil. New Delta will also see the establishment of a new urban community and factories to process the crops.

The government has already taken many steps to make Egypt self-sufficient through similar mega-projects on 1.5 million feddans (acres), plus 100,000 greenhouses and the national seed production project.

New Delta project is part of government strategy to form agro-urban communities managed with the most up-to-date systems. These communities will host industrial complexes in agricultural production and create thousands of jobs.

Last Sunday, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi directed the immediate launch of the New Delta project.

The directives came during his meeting with Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli, Minister of Agriculture el-Sayed el-Qoseir to review details of the implementation of the new agricultural project. The president urged the authorities concern to speed up work on New Delta, which should be up and running within two years, instead of ten as originally planned.

Agriculture Minister el-Sayyed el-Quseir said the area will be cultivated with wheat, corn and vegetables.

“It costs LE200,000 to reclaim one feddan of land,” he added.

The location of the Delta is unique and near to the geographical Delta with a reliable road network and handy for seaports, which will be vital for agricultural exports.

The Cabinet Information Centre has recently published an infographic, clarifying that the president gave the green light to start the project after thorough studies by various several agencies and ministries. These studies confirm the suitability of the land for the project, situated on the northwestern coast in Dabaa.