Agriculture and irrigation• Since ancient times, Egyptians have been

closely connected with River Nile. They considered it the originator of life on their land.

• On the banks of the great River Nile, the Egyptians discovered agriculture, leaned how to grow plants and domesticate animals.

• They had successfully established one of the oldest civilizations ever known in history. Egypt and its civilization are correlated with agriculture.

• Ancient Egyptian managed to produce several crops and plants such as wheat, barley, lentils, beans and lupine in addition to vegetables and fruits, They also extracted sesame and castor oils.

• They knew to cultivate linen and turned its fibers into many kinds of textiles. They also used papyrus in paper industry.

• So, agriculture was the source of welfare and prosperity in ancient Egypt.

• Since July 1952 Revolution, a number of mega irrigation projects were established, starting with the High Dam.

• It's a turning point in the history of Egyptian agriculture and breakthrough of modern Egyptian industry.

• Since the start of storage in the high Dam lake in 1964, that giant project has succeeded in achieving Egypt's water security.

• The marsh of work and achievement has proceeded in accelerating steps throughout the past two decades, starting with the implementation of El Sheikh Zayed canal project and the giant lifting station “Mubarak”, in 1997, to add 540.000 feddans to the agricultural lands.

• In addition to A'salam canal project to add 620. 000 feddans to the agricultural lands.• Thus, the area of the agricultural

land was increased by 2.2 million feddans during that period.

Agriculture and the Economy

• The agricultural sector is responsible for achieving food security and meeting local needs in food commodities, and is a main source of providing raw materials for many industries in Egypt.

Agriculture and the Economy

• It absorbs about 27.8 percent of total Egyptian labor force, as the number of workers showed about 5,310,000.

• Due to the economic importance of such vital sector, investments allocated to agriculture has speedily increased over the past two decades.

Self-Sufficiency in Agricultural Production

• Despite the efforts exerted in vertical and horizontal agricultural development projects that led to the increase of agricultural growth rate from 2.6 percent in the 80s. to 3.6 percent in 2004, the population increase raised by faster rates.

Self-Sufficiency in Agricultural Production

• That led to decreasing the positive effects of agricultural development efforts and the appearance of food gap in a number of agricultural crops and products.

• The efforts exerted in agricultural development have succeeded in bridging that gap.

Agricultural Exports

• Agricultural exports are a promising means of developing the Egyptian national income.

• They actually succeeded in achieving constant growth, where their value rose from LE 471 million in 1982 to a bout LE 5.8 billion in 2004/05, as a result of developing agricultural production and the application of organic agriculture system especially in new lands.

Promising Investment Opportunities In Agricultural Activity

• Egypt embarked upon an ambitious plan to add about 3,200,000 feddans of reclaimed agricultural lands over the period (1997 – 2017), through implementing a number of giant agricultural projects in south of the Valley, Sinai and Western Desert.

• These projects attract investments from the Egyptian private, Arab and foreign sectors.

Giant Agricultural Expansion Projects• At the south of the Valley, Toshka

project started on January 9th 1997, to create a new Delta at south of the western Desert parallel to the Nile.• It adds 540,000 feddans to the

agricultural area irrigated by the Nile water through El Sheikh Zayed Canal.• The project cost is LE 5.5 billion.

Irrigation• Volume of current water resources of

Egypt is about 69.7 billion m3 covering the present requirements.

• The River Nile forms 95 percent of these resources, so, it is the source of life for the Egyptians.

• Agriculture in Egypt depends onirrigation by the River Nile, and consumes 85 percent of total resources.