Egypt has begun excavating an artificial river in the western desert, with a length of 174 kilometers, to support the New Delta project, the largest integrated agricultural development project in Egypt's history.

Hani Sewilam, Egypt's Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, said the waterway consisted of an open canal and pipes partially buried in the sand. In addition, the government has built 30 water lifting stations and a large-scale tertiary sewage treatment project to ensure the sustainable development of water resources in the region.

The spokesperson of the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture pointed out that the artificial river aims to strengthen Egypt's food security, reduce the import gap of strategic commodities, support agriculture-related activities such as livestock and agro-processing, and establish an industrial-agricultural integration that connects agriculture, manufacturing and trade. body.

New Delta Project

The New Delta project aims to reclaim and cultivate 2.2 million feddans of agricultural land, 1 feddan equals approximately 4,200 square meters. Egypt's Agriculture Minister Al-Sayed Al-Qusseir said the country seeks to achieve food security through expanded land reclamation, describing the new delta as Egypt's food future. He said that the output of Egypt's strategic food crops will increase by 10% to 15% of the current total value of agricultural production.

Egypt is a traditional agricultural country, with about 5.5 million agricultural employees, accounting for 31% of the total Egyptian labor force. The reforms in recent years have enabled the country's agricultural production to achieve steady growth. However, as the population increases, Egypt still needs to import food and is one of the largest food importing countries in the world. Editor/He Yuting