Egypt is planning to double the production of its most famous crop, cotton, in an effort to revive a lucrative industry that can re-launch a faltering economy and increase the country’s exports. Last month, Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture Spokesman Hamed Abdel-Dayem told Reuters that the government aims to increase cotton production to hit 1.4 million qintars (160 kg) in the fiscal year 2017/2018, compared to 700,000 qintars a year ago. Abdel-Dayem added that the government seeks to push up the price of the long staple cotton to more than 3,000 Egyptian pounds ($US 168.07) per qintar, highlighting that all of the cotton will be exported. On July 11, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi also held a meeting with Prime Minister Sherif Ismail as well as the ministers of agriculture and trade and the public enterprise sector in order to discuss ways of boosting the famed industry. During the meeting, President Al-Sisi directed officials “to set an appropriate price for buying cotton from farmers in order to encourage them to expand their cotton planting in the coming years and meet the needs of the local market”, Presidency Spokesman Ambassador Alaa Youssef said in…
