Egyptian President Inaugurates Agricultural Land Reclamation Projects
Arab World
Cairo - Asharq Al-Awsat
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi revealed that the water used in the New Delta project was agricultural wastewater, which was collected and treated following the standards of the Ministry of Health. The President inaugurated reclamation of agricultural land and wheat and palm farms projects in the Toshka region in the South of the valley. Sisi asserted that 100 million Egyptians require much more water than this, noting that the country benefits from the available water and triple treats the sewage water to cover the needs. Sisi warned that the water used for irrigation in North and Central Sinai is treated water from the Bahr al-Baqar plant, which was opened two months ago and produced 5.6 million meters of treated water from agricultural wastewater. “We must note that the water used here in land reclamation is agricultural wastewater that has been treated and is suitable for agriculture according to the standards,” he said. Sisi urged expediting efforts to reclaim planned lands under the Toshka project, saying the grounds may produce about 500,000 tons of wheat. “We are doing the impossible,” Sisi said about completing the reclamation and cultivation projects in Sinai and Toshka in such a short period. The project also includes establishing 18 water lifting stations, and the newly cultivated lands could benefit up to 100,000 families, announced Sisi. The state has reclaimed 85,000 feddans out of 100,000 feddans as part of the first phase of the Toshka project in 2021. The second phase will start in January 2022 to complete the project by reclaiming around 500,000 feddans. El-Sisi said the engineering efforts in the Toshka project resembles the construction of the Aswan High Dam, which cost $500 million, blaming the state for the lack of media attention to these achievements. Egypt is in conflict with Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) that Addis Ababa is building on the main tributary of the Nile River. Cairo fears the potential negative impact of GERD on the flow of its annual share of the Nile’s 55.5 billion cubic meters of water, mainly that it relies on it for more than 90 percent of its water supplies. Experts warn of a water crisis due to the population increase and the GERD issue. The Egyptian government embarked on implementing a national plan to provide alternative water sources and rationalize its consumption, including projects to treat wastewater and switch to modern irrigation systems.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3381136/egyptian-president-inaugurates-agricultural-land-reclamation-projects
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