The Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation revealed the areas cultivated with the cotton crop during the 2023 season, which amounted to 255,002 acres nationwide.
Dr. Abdel Nasser Radwan, director of the Cotton Institute at the Agricultural Research Center, said that the cultivated areas exceeded 255 thousand and 2 feddans, including 228 thousand feddans in the governorates of Al-Wajh Al-Bahri and 27 thousand feddans in the governorates of Al-Wajh Al-Qibli, indicating that there are 7 commercial varieties that are being cultivated, according to the ministerial decision. No. 112 of 2023 regarding defining the areas for cultivating Egyptian cotton varieties for the 2023 season.
Radwan added, in exclusive statements to Al-Dustour, that the varieties include the Extra Giza 92 variety, which is grown in Damietta Governorate, with a cultivated area of 8,579 acres, and the Super Giza 97 variety, which is grown in the governorates of Menoufia and Qalyubia, with a total area of 4,184 acres, and the Extra Giza 96 variety, which is cultivated in the centers of Fuwa and Motobas in Kafr El-Sheikh with an area of 11226 acres and the Super Giza 94 variety, which is cultivated in Kafr El-Sheikh, Dakahlia, Gharbia, Sharqia, Ismailia and Port Said with an area of 173887 acres, and the Super Giza 86 variety, which is cultivated in the governorates of Beheira, Nubaria and Alexandria with an area of 29898 acres, thus the total cultivated area in Lower Egypt is about more than 227,775 acres.
“Radwan” confirmed that with regard to Upper Egypt, the total area has exceeded 26,444 acres, distributed between the Giza 95 variety, which is cultivated in Assiut, Sohag, Fayoum, Minya, Beni Suef, and the New Valley, with an area of 26,358 acres, in addition to the new variety, Giza 98, which is cultivated in Sohag Governorate, and for the first time with an area of 85 acres in the center Dar Al-Salam, in addition to an area of 782 acres planted with research stations and farms of the production sector in Upper and Lower Egypt, which includes the programs of the Cotton Research Institute and primary propagation of all commercial varieties.
And he added that during the months of July and August, the process of purification and eradication of alien plants from the fields of propagation cotton for all varieties of cultivated cotton was completed.
Raswan pointed out that the Cotton Research Institute is cooperating with a number of global initiatives aimed at sustainability, such as the BCI Better Cotton initiative, in cooperation with UNIDO, starting from the 2020 season, where environmental and social standards are applied to preserve the soil, provide irrigation water, reduce the use of pesticides and chemicals, in addition to providing an environmental environment. Work suitable for farms, and this initiative is implemented in 27 countries, in addition to the “Reel cotton” initiative in cooperation with the English company Cotton Connect and the White Company, which will be expanded this season 2023.
The Director of the Cotton Institute added that these initiatives are fruitful, especially in the long term, as the global trade agreements, especially with European and American countries, which require the existence of certificates of sustainability upon import, hence the importance of expanding these initiatives, in addition to the direct return on farms from training and Transferring technologies, improving the work environment, increasing the yield from the area unit, reducing impurities, raising the rank and quality of cotton, and ensuring that it is marketed at the highest price according to the auctions held through the new marketing system.