Editing Economy of Egypt (section)

==== Crops ====
[[File:حقول القمح بمحافظة قنا قرية حجازة قبلي.jpg|thumb|A [[wheat]] field in [[Qena Governorate|Qena]], Egypt]]
According to [[List of largest producing countries of agricultural commodities|2022 statistics]] from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Egypt is the world's largest producer of [[date palm|dates]] and [[artichokes]]; the second largest producer of [[Ficus|figs]] and [[broad beans|fava beans]]; the third largest producer of [[onions]], [[eggplant]]s, and [[cuniculture|rabbit]] meat; the fourth largest producer of [[strawberry|strawberries]], [[garlic]], [[buffalo meat|buffalo]] and [[goose]] meat as well as the fifth largest producer of [[buffalo milk]], tomatoes and [[watermelon]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Egypt: main crops by production volume 2021 |url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/1063560/egypt-main-crops-by-production-volume/ |access-date=2024-06-28 |website=Statista |language=en}}</ref>

Cotton has long been a primary exported cash crop, but it is no longer vital as an export. Egypt is a substantial producer of wheat, maize, [[sugarcane]], fruit and vegetables, [[fodder]],<ref name="IbrahimIbrahim2003">{{cite book|first1=Fouad N.|last1=Ibrahim|first2=Barbara|last2=Ibrahim|title=Egypt: An Economic Geography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rdyv_lA95aUC&pg=PA133|date=5 December 2003|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=978-1-86064-548-8|pages=133–}}</ref> and rice; but also needs to import significant quantities of wheat and maize, primarily from Ukraine and Russia, despite yield increases since 1970. This is largely due to high domestic demand, driven by subsidies and a [[Egyptian cuisine#Bread|culinary preference]] for bread, alongside Egypt’s limited arable land and a focus on cultivating high-value export crops such as vegetables. Egypt exports rice but this can vary periodically based on government regulations, which are influenced by water and land use considerations.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Egypt's Production, Imports and Total Consumption of Wheat and Corn (Maize)<br /> (thousand metric tons and fiscal years)
|- style="background:#ccc;"
| Item || 2011 || 2012 || 2013 || 2014 || 2015 || 2016 || 2017 || 2018 || 2019 || 2020 || 2021 || 2022
|- style="text-align:right;"
| style="background:#a1f4bb; text-align:center;"|'''Wheat''' || colspan="12"| 
|- style="text-align:right;"
| style="background:#ddd; text-align:left;"| Production || 8,400 || 8,500 || 8,250 || 8,300 || 8,100 || 8,100 || 8,450 || 8,450 || 8,770 || 8,900 || 9,000 || 9,800 
|- style="text-align:right;"
| style="background:#ddd; text-align:left;"| Imports || 11,650 || 8,400 || 10,150 || 11,300 || 11,925 || 11,181 || 12,407 || 12,354 || 12,811 || 12,149 || 12,000 || 11,000
|- style="text-align:right;"
| style="background:#ddd; text-align:left;"| Total consumption || 18,600 || 18,700 || 18,500 || 19,100 || 19,200 || 19,400 || 19,800 || 20,100 || 20,300 || 20,600 || 20,500 || 20,600
|- style="text-align:right;"
| style="background:#fedcba; text-align:center;"| '''Maize''' || colspan="12"|
|- style="text-align:right;"
| style="background:#ddd; text-align:left;"| Production || 5,500 || 5,800 || 5,800 || 5,960 || 6,000 || 6,000 || 6,400 || 6,800 || 6,400 || 6,400 || 7,440 || 7,440
|- style="text-align:right;"
| style="background:#ddd; text-align:left;"| Imports || 7,154 || 5,059 || 8,791 || 7,839 || 8,722 || 8,773 || 9,464 || 9,367 || 10,432 || 9,633 || 9,200 || 9,200
|- style="text-align:right;"
| style="background:#ddd; text-align:left;"| Total consumption || 11,700 || 12,000 || 13,200 || 13,900 || 14,850 || 15,100 || 15,900 || 16,200 || 16,900 || 16,400 || 16,400 || 16,400
|- style="font-size:smaller; text-align:left;"
| colspan="13" |
'''Sources''': <ref name="Wheat production">{{Cite web |url=https://www.indexmundi.com/agriculture/?country=eg&commodity=wheat&graph=production |title=Egypt Wheat Production by Year |website=Index Mundi |publisher=Index Mundi |access-date=2025-04-17}}</ref>
<ref name="Wheat imports">{{Cite web |url=https://www.indexmundi.com/agriculture/?country=eg&commodity=wheat&graph=imports |title=Egypt Wheat Imports by Year |website=Index Mundi |publisher=Index Mundi |access-date=2025-04-17}}</ref>
<ref name="Wheat consumption">{{Cite web |url=https://www.indexmundi.com/agriculture/?country=eg&commodity=wheat&graph=domestic-consumption |title=Egypt Wheat Domestic Consumption by Year |website=Index Mundi |publisher=Index Mundi |access-date=2025-04-17}}</ref>
<ref name="Maize production">{{Cite web |url=https://www.indexmundi.com/agriculture/?country=eg&commodity=corn&graph=production |title=Egypt Maize Production by Year |website=Index Mundi |publisher=Index Mundi |access-date=2025-04-17}}</ref>
<ref name="Maize imports">{{Cite web |url=https://www.indexmundi.com/agriculture/?country=eg&commodity=corn&graph=imports |title=Egypt Maize Imports by Year |website=Index Mundi |publisher=Index Mundi |access-date=2025-04-17}}</ref>
<ref name="Maize consumption">{{Cite web |url=https://www.indexmundi.com/agriculture/?country=eg&commodity=corn&graph=domestic-consumption |title=Egypt Maize Domestic Consumption by Year |website=Index Mundi |publisher=Index Mundi |access-date=2025-04-17}}</ref>
|}

[[File:Flowers Harvest.jpg|thumb|Flower production.]]
Land is worked intensively and yields are high. Increasingly, modern techniques are applied to producing fruits, vegetables and flowers, in addition to cotton, for export. Further improvement is possible. The most common traditional farms occupy {{convert|1|acre|ha|order=flip}} each, typically in a canal-irrigated area along the banks of the Nile. Many small farmers also own cows, [[Domestic buffalo|water buffalo]]s, and chickens. Between 1953 and 1971, some farms were [[collective farming|collectivised]], especially in [[Upper Egypt]] and parts of the [[Nile Delta]].

[[Cactus|Cacti]], particularly [[cactus pears]], are widely cultivated across Egypt, including Sinai, and extend into neighboring countries. Introduced during the [[Columbian Exchange]], they have become a significant crop in the region.<ref name="Woodfin-2012">{{cite book | last=Woodfin | first=Edward C. | title=Camp and Combat on the Sinai and Palestine Front : The experience of the British Empire Soldier, 1916{{emdash}}18 | publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] | publication-place=Houndmills, [[Basingstoke]], Hampshire, & [[New York City]] | year=2012 | isbn=978-0-230-30376-8 | oclc=779244382 | pages=xix+220}}</ref>

The government exercises a strong degree of control over agriculture, usually through financial incentives and export bans, not only to ensure the best use of irrigation water but also to confine the planting of water intensive crops like cotton in favor of food grains. However, the government's ability to achieve this objective is limited by [[crop rotation]]al constraints.<ref>Klausz, Jesse. "Economy of Egypt." Lecture.</ref>