Egypt allocates 50% of New Delta project to strategic crops

Egypt has finalized the agricultural plan for its New Delta project, allocating 50 per cent of the cultivation area to strategic crops as part of efforts to strengthen food security and reduce import dependence.

The project, inaugurated by President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, is one of Egypt's largest land reclamation and agricultural expansion programmes. The development targets a total cultivated area of 2.2 million feddans, equivalent to approximately 924,000 hectares.

According to officials at the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, the cultivation plan was developed using a "balanced scientific framework" designed to support domestic supply requirements while also increasing export-oriented production.

Under the approved plan, around half of the project area will be dedicated to strategic crops, including corn and sugar beet. These are crops that Egypt imports in large volumes or consumes extensively within the domestic food and industrial sectors.

A further 25 per cent of the land will be allocated to export-oriented crops, including potatoes, strawberries, grapes, and citrus. The remaining 25 per cent will be used for free-market crops and vegetable production intended for the domestic market.

Authorities have also designated a specialised production zone of 100,000 feddans, or around 42,000 hectares, for medicinal and aromatic plants aimed at industrial and export markets.

Officials stated that the project also includes infrastructure intended to support agricultural logistics and postharvest handling. This includes a grain and commodity logistics hub with planned storage capacity of up to one million tons.

The New Delta project also relies on a large-scale agricultural water recycling system. According to officials, a 155-kilometre canal with a width of 24 metres will transport up to 10 million cubic metres of treated water daily from the Hammam wastewater treatment plant using tertiary treatment systems.

The treated water network is expected to support cultivation across the reclaimed agricultural zones as Egypt continues to face increasing pressure on water resources and Nile supplies.

Government officials stated that the New Delta project forms part of Egypt's wider agricultural expansion programme, which has added nearly four million feddans, or approximately 1.68 million hectares, of cultivated land since 2014. Prior to that period, Egypt's cultivated area was estimated at around eight million feddans, equivalent to approximately 3.36 million hectares.