Egypt’s “While gold” is fast losing its status in the international market. The land area’s on which cotton is grown is declining day by day. The reason behind the decrease in land area is that farmers are no longer interested in the crop because of inconsistent pricing policies. As the government does not provide cultivators with financial insurance of their crop they turn to more reliable crops such as rice, vegetables and fruits. . . After liberalization of the cotton the government is not responsible for marketing cotton, leaving farmers without any financial insurance on their harvest. . . “The Ministry of Agriculture should set an average price for cotton and announce it at the beginning of each season,” suggested Hussein Mohamed Hegazy, chairman of the Shura Council’s Agricultural Production and Lands Reclamation Committee. “This will help farmers feel secure and encourage them to grow cotton.” . . The payments to cotton growers are sometimes delayed for months at a time. That is one of the reason farmers stopped growing cotton. . . Most local spinning and weaving companies do not use Egyptian extra-long cotton, but prefer to import cheaper short-staple cotton. It would be better if local manufacturers upgraded to the extra-long varieties, rather than concentrating on producing cheap garments. Growing long-staple cotton but not using it in local factories weakens the country’s position in the international market .. Hussein Mohamed Hegazy, chairman of the Shura Council’s Agricultural Production and Lands Reclamation Committee suggested that the government double the land allocated for cotton, part of which will be earmarked for growing the short-staple cotton needed in local production. The yield of the longer staple variety will target foreign markets since it is in high demand there. . . Source: Baharattextiles.com
Date:8/7/2007
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