Soils in the Nile River and Delta are silt-clay mixtures of good quality, deposited during thousands of years of Nile flooding. The total cropped area is estimated at approximately 5.8 million ha with a cropping intensity of 180 percent. Most of the newly reclaimed desert areas use modern irrigation practices such as drip and sprinkler systems.
An estimated 3.5 million farmers cultivate holdings of about two feddans (one feddan = 0.42 ha). Production is intensive and yields are relatively high compared with world standards in countries with similar agroclimatic conditions.
Based on soil characteristics and water resources, four agro-ecological zones can be identified as follows:
This land is located in the Nile Valley and Delta Regions. It covers a total area of 2.25 million ha and is characterized by alluvial soils (clay to loamy). The Nile is the main source of water for irrigation.
This land is located mainly on both the east and west sides of the Delta and scattered over various areas in the country. It covers 1.05 million ha. Reclamation of this land was started in the early 1950s and is continuing. Nile water is the main source of irrigation water but in some desert areas underground water is the only source of irrigation water. Sprinkler and drip irrigation regimes are practiced.
Oases are characterized by alluvial, sandy and calcareous soils. They cover a total area of 40 000 ha. Underground water is the main source for irrigation.
These include approximately 0.17 million ha of land located in the north coastal areas, where rainfall fluctuates between 100 and 200 mm annually.
Traditional soil fertility management can lead to the mining of nutrients from the soil due to an insufficient application of nutrients, to nutrient imbalances and to environmental contamination through the over-application of fertilizers.
The present distribution of land use in Egypt is principally the result of long-term historical processes, resulting from the interaction between socio-economic, political and environmental factors. These factors have influenced land ownership and tenure, population growth and urban-industrial development. Figure 2 shows that around 3.3 percent of the land is used for agriculture.
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FIGURE 2
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Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation (MALR), 2002.
The most significant change in land use is increasing intensification, resulting from the progress of mechanization and the application of fertilizers and agrochemicals.
The aim of land use planning in Egypt is to change the pattern of land use in such a way that crops are cultivated on relatively large areas, reducing waste in the use of land resources, minimizing and organizing pest control, improving the use of water for irrigation and mechanization practices.
Three main factors limiting the growth of the agriculture sector are:
1. Water quantity and quality
2. Land resources
3. Human
resources
1. Water resources:
Limited water resources
Inefficient utilization of water
Rapidly deteriorating quality of water due to pollution and salinization
2. Land resources:
Population pressure
Urban encroachment
Implementation of legal and regulatory systems
Land degradation
3. Human resources:
Coordination
Information transfer
Lack of adequate credit
There is no effective rainfall in Egypt except on the narrow band along the north coast and Egypt’s agriculture is almost totally dependent on irrigation. The total water resources currently available in Egypt are estimated at 73.8 billion cubic meters (BCM) per annum including the natural and non-traditional resources. Table 3 shows that at present approximately 62.6 BCM of water are used annually. Table 4 shows the distribution of water consumption between the various sectors. The agricultural sector consumes about 81 percent of the total water available. The total torrent water is estimated at 1.5 BCM annually. The Nile is the major source of water in Egypt and agricultural development is closely linked to the Nile River and its management.
TABLE 3
Availability and current use of
water
|
Source |
Availability |
Percent |
Current use |
Percent |
|
Nile |
55.5 |
75.2 |
51.7 |
82.6 |
|
Underground |
11.3 |
15.3 |
5.2 |
8.3 |
|
Agriculture* |
5.0 |
6.8 |
3.7 |
5.9 |
|
Waste water |
1.5 |
2.03 |
1.5 |
2.4 |
|
Rainfall |
0.5 |
0.67 |
0.5 |
0.8 |
|
Total |
73.8 |
100 |
62.6 |
100 |
* Re-use of drainage water
Source: FAO, 2003.
TABLE 4
Distribution of water use by
sector
|
Sector |
Consumption |
Percent |
|
Agriculture |
50.8 |
81.1 |
|
Industrial and municipal |
8.8 |
14.1 |
|
Electricity |
2.0 |
3.2 |
|
Navigation & winter closure |
1.0 |
1.6 |
|
Total |
62.6 |
100 |
Source: FAO, 2003.
A major component of the strategy for agricultural development is improvement of the efficiency of use of Nile water, increasing the productivity per unit of water.
Total water consumption in the year 1995 was approximately 49 BCM. Water consumption for the proposed cropping pattern for year 2017 should amount to around 67 BCM for the cultivation of about 9.2 million ha. The additional water is expected to result from reducing the area under rice to 420 000 ha and the cultivation of new varieties with a shorter growth duration and lower water consumption. This should reduce the consumption of irrigation water for rice cultivation by four BCM. A saving in the consumption of water on sugar cane of almost 0.5 BCM should be achieved due to the improvement of water use efficiency and land leveling by laser of about 42 000 ha. A further saving is expected to result from improving the use of drainage water and the use of non-conventional water resources.
Large-scale irrigation schemes in Egypt have been linked primarily to perennial surface water. Patterns of water use vary greatly. Water is not used efficiently and there have been significant economic and environmental impacts from an excessive drawdown of non-recharged aquifers, excessive irrigation that has led to rising groundwater tables and resulted in soil salinization and sodication.
Small-scale irrigated systems have been developed along small perennial streams and at oases, or where flood and spate irrigation is feasible, as well as around boreholes.
In many cases, irrigated cropping is combined with animal husbandry. It is possible to distinguish between full and partial water control. Intense local competition for limited water resources between livestock owners and farmers is becoming increasingly evident. Crop failure is generally not a problem but livelihoods are vulnerable to water shortages, scheme breakdowns and deteriorating input/output price ratios.
The following policy options are proposed to improve the efficiency of water use in agriculture:
Improvement of farm water management through laser land levelling programmes and improved irrigation practices.
Water saving policies according to the different water management zones.
Restriction of the areas of rice and sugar cane.
Move towards demand driven water management and an entailed volumetric system, by the middle of the twenty-first century.
Balancing engineering solutions in the Nile basin with cooperative social approaches at the mesqa (private canal) and distribution level.
Move toward decentralization of water management responsibilities to effective water user associations.
Mechanisms for cost sharing to meet the full costs of operation and maintenance.
The Agrarian Reform laws limit the maximum farm size to 50 feddans for an individual or 100 feddans for a family. However, farms of this size are not common in Egypt. The large estates, with thousands of feddans, were expropriated in various ways in the 1952 and 1961 land reforms. About 81 percent of farms do not exceed three feddans while 9 percent have between 3 and 5 feddans. The average farm size is about 1.5 feddans. Figure 3 shows the distribution of agricultural landownership in the year 2000.
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FIGURE 3
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Source: MALR, 2002.
The general system is one of individual land tenure. Transfers of title take place through inheritance and the market. The operative farm unit is the holding, defined currently as: land owned plus land legally "rented in" minus land legally "rented out". Most often, the land that was "rented in" occupied between one-third and one-half of the holding. After the 1961 land reform, this holding was recorded at the cooperative and was the basis for dealings between the cooperative and the landholder.
The annual rent per feddan was about LE30 during the 1950s and at present is about LE2 000 per feddan. There is also substantial unofficial rental, at much higher prices, reflecting market conditions. This is not recorded officially.
Egypt tenant farmers are struggling to come to terms with the new land laws introduced in an attempt to liberalize food supplies. After a five-year grace period, Egypt’s 904 000 tenant farmers became subject to a 1992 law allowing landowners to charge market level rents and denying tenants the right to pass rented land on to their children.
There is a slight trend towards concentration of landownership, especially in the new lands, but it is less significant than the concentration of ownership of agricultural machinery or the ability of the larger farmers to take advantage of new market opportunities. Any trend towards concentration of landownership is still inhibited by the agrarian reform rules that limit the size of holdings.
There are many "landless" people in the rural areas. Though some work as labourers, not all are involved in the agrarian sector: many have other occupations - civil servants, merchants, commuting factory workers.
