The Ministry of Agriculture launched a national campaign to expand the cultivation of quinoa, April 27, 2018 – Egypt TodayCAIRO – 5 April 2018: The Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation adopted a number of applicable measures on Saturday to eliminate the impact of climate change on agricultural land and crop production.The ministry recommended expanding the cultivation of water-conscious crops such as quinoa, which needs much less water to cultivate than rice and wheat. While rice, on average, requires 6,000 cubic meters of water per feddan (1 feddan = 1.038 acres), quinoa only needs less than 500 cubic meters.Moreover, the ministry will issue a ban on the cultivation of some crops that require a large amount of water such as rice; a recent ministerial decision was issued to reduce the area cultivated by rice from 1.1 million feddans last year to only 724,200 feddans.The ministry also urged spreading awareness of the threats that climate change poses on agriculture, as well as the different measures needed to protect agriculture. Developing agricultural land comes at the top of the measures.Heavy rainfall is becoming more and more common, bringing dangerous flash floods. Even New Cairo, Helwan and Maadi are identified among the risk zones.The Delta region is also at risk of torrential rain, but not to the level of being flooded. Sewer networks are needed to discharge rainwater, the report explained, adding that some towns are built on areas that are vulnerable to flood because of the limited available space in the Nile Delta governorates.Climate change and its far-reaching impact is currently the subject of numerous discussions worldwide.Egypt is an ideal example of a developing country that is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change and faces numerous threats to its economic, social and environmental sustainability, including energy, water and food security.

Source: Egypt Today May 06, 2018 08:26 UTC