Egypt: Cotton and Products Annual
The Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation announced it would not directly provide cash subsidies for MY2015/16, after offering such subsidies to farmers for the first time in MY2014/15. Now, with a revised policy, the government requires farmers to have sales contracts in place in order to receive seed and fertilizer subsidies. Due to deteriorating seed quality, the government will be the only producer and supplier of cottonseed, in an effort to improve cotton quality. The changes in policy will alter production; MY2015/2016 cotton production is expected to drop by 40 percent to 315,000 bales. Lint consumption is to remain stable at 650,000 bales, prompting an increase in imports by 30 percent to a record 450,000 bales, while exports are expected to drop by 13 percent.
