The volume of the Egyptian rice exports reached 595,000 tons last year ending in August, marking the biggest amount exported in a decade, the daily Al Gomhuria said, citing official figures.
According to the paper, the Egyptian commercial office in Japan has won a tender with the Japanese Food Agency to export 25,000 tons of Egyptian rice to Japan. Arrangements are being made with the Egyptian export companies to implement the contract.
The offices play a key role in brokering such deals and maintain Egyptian markets abroad.
A commercial advisor, Adel Abdel Salam, told the daily that a plan to activate the commercial representation offices has been discussed recently.
Rice is a major summer crop in Egypt, occupying about 10 percent of the country’s cultivated area, according to Oryza.com.
It says that production is concentrated in northern Egypt and is entirely irrigated. In the last five years, the government has set a target of 378,000 hectares (900,000 feddans) for rice planting each year in order to maximize the utilization of limited water resources.
Farmers, however, normally exceed the target due to free irrigation water and the higher profitability of rice cultivation compared to other crops. Although there is a fine of LE 600/feddan for those who exceed the targeted area, the government rarely imposes it on farmers, according to the report -- Albawaba.com
