ASWAN, Egypt – Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El Sisi on Thursday morning witnessed the start of wheat harvest season in Toshka region in the Upper Egypt governorate of Aswan.
Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli was present along with a number of ministers and senior state officials.
A documentary, titled “Land of Good” was screened by the Armed Forces’ Department of Morale Affairs.
Toshka project is the largest of its kind in the agricultural reclamation sector in the Middle East and a giant national project that has been revived by the State as per directives of president Sisi.
The State has solved any problems facing the project in terms of construction, main structure, technical support, provision of irrigation water, energy sources and the establishment of axes to link it with national road network and provision of necessary financing.
Supply Minister Ali Moselhi said on Thursday that the state’s strategy aims to secure food commodities with reserves enough for at least six months.
He made the remarks on Thursday during a ceremony marking the beginning of the wheat harvest season in Toshka in the Upper Egypt governorate of Aswan.
He highlighted the importance of the silos project.
He expounded that the three-pronged state strategy is based on political leadership directives to ensure food commodities reserves for about six months and upgrading efficiency of mechanism for distributing commodities nationwide.
Within this context, 40,000 commodities outlets have been opened nationwide, he expounded .
He said the political leadership directed to secure needed funds for these commodities, he said, noting that dlrs 1.8 billion were allocated by the end of 2016 for increasing strategic reserves of different commodities, which, he added boosted Egypt’s capability of hedging against external shocks during Covid-19 pandemic or inflation wave after it, in addition to the Russian-Ukrainian crisis.
Shifting to wheat stockpile, Moselhi said the country has 2.6 million tonnes of imported wheat and seeks to provide local wheat at 5.5 -6 million tons within a period of nearly seven months.
He asserted the country has a strategic stockpile that is sufficient until late January next year as the strategic reserve of wheat is enough for more than six months to nine months.
Wheat is important for serving 71 million citizens to provide 250 to 270 million loaves of bread per day.
During the ceremony held on Thursday to mark the start of the wheat harvest season in Toshka in Aswan, Sisi inaugurated, via video conference, a number of new silos in Sharqiya, Giza, Qalubiy and Ismailia within the framework of the national silos project.
The projects include silos with the capacity of 90,000 tonnes in New Salhiya city in Sharqiya, a silos complex with the capacity of 90,000 tonnes in Arab el Ulayqat city in Qalubiya, a silos complex with the capacity of 60,000 tonnes in Beni Salama city in Giza and a silo with the capacity of 30,000 tonnes in Abu Suwir in Ismailia.
After that, Sisi was apprised of the different types of harvests.
Sisi also visited different green houses of the project, wheat and sesame crops in addition to palm farms.
Sisi was accompanied by Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli, Agriculture Minister el Sayyed el Qosair, Supply Minister Ali el-Moselhi and a number of the Armed Forces commands.
After that, Sisi gave green light to start the wheat harvest season in Toshka in the Upper Egypt governorate of Aswan.
During his tour, Sisi was apprised of the different types of harvests and visited green houses of the project, wheat and sesame crops in addition to palm farms.
Toshka is the biggest project of its kind in the Middle East and one of the huge national projects in which the state succeeded under directives of President Sisi.
Sisi posed for a photo op with officials in charge of wheat harvest season in Toshka in the Upper Egypt governorate of Aswan, where he inspected lands during a ceremony held to mark the start of wheat harvest season.
During his tour, Sisi was apprised of the different types of harvests and visited green houses of the project, wheat and sesame crops in addition to palm farms.
Toshka is the biggest project of its kind in the Middle East and one of the huge national projects in which the state succeeded at the directives of President Sisi.
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