Abu Dhabi/Cairo | Reuters — Egypt and two companies from its strong backer United Arab Emirates have embarked on an ambitious plan to grow wheat in the desert that could boost the Cairo government’s credibility if successful. Egypt, the world’s biggest wheat importer, has long aspired to become self-sufficient in its staple food through various
UAE-Egypt alliance expands to desert wheat venture
Syria plans to import one million tonnes of wheat as war rages
Jihadist rebels now control most of Syria’s wheat-growing areas
Syria plans to import one million tonnes of wheat as loss of government control over large swathes of farmland and a poor harvest have cut domestic purchases by half, a source at the state’s General Organization for Cereal Processing and Trade (Hoboob) told Reuters. “We are still studying the mode of imports, whether it will
Islamic State militants grab new weapon: Iraqi wheat
Baghdad/Abu Dhabi | Reuters — After seizing five oil fields and Iraq’s biggest dam, Sunni militants bent on creating an Islamic empire in the Middle East now control yet another powerful economic weapon: wheat supplies. Fighters from the Islamic State have overrun large areas in five of Iraq’s most fertile provinces, where the United Nations
Syria again seeks rice after failed tender
Syria is seeking 135,000 tonnes of white short grain rice, its General Foreign Trade Organization (GFTO) said on Monday, after failing to buy in a tender that closed on Aug. 25. Syria’s civil war, now in its third year, has killed more than 100,000 people and driven millions from their homes. The country has also
Syria tenders fail, doubt raised on Assad’s ability to buy food
Syria cancelled an urgent tender to buy sugar on Monday, two weeks after cancelling a bid to buy wheat, the latest signs that President Bashar al-Assad’s government is losing its ability to buy food as civil war destroys its harvests. In the failed transactions, Syria offered to pay for the food with funds held in
Arab countries consider grain storage site
The Arab Authority for Agricultural Investment and Development (AAID) is considering building a system for storing three to six months of grain reserves for the Gulf region, a senior official from the investment bank said Feb. 22. AAID, which was set up by Arab governments in the late 1970s, will study construction of storage for
Egypt Searching For Alternatives To The “Black Cloud”
Each autumn, Egyptians take a deep breath and brace for the black cloud, a thick layer of smog from burning rice straw that spreads across Cairo and the Nile valley for several weeks. Burning agricultural waste, mostly rice straw, turns the capital s already noxious air into an even more toxic mix. Farmers produce about
Egypt Orders Seizure Of Russian Wheat Over Quality
Egypt’s state prosecutor ordered the seizure of all Russian wheat for checks over health concerns, Egyptian state media said May 13, in what Russia’s grain lobby said was an attempt to influence prices. The prosecutor made the move after a complaint that a quantity of spoiled wheat unfit for human consumption had entered the Red
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
