Egypt will produce 4 mn tonnes of white rice this year, up from 2.7 mn tonnes last year, head of the Agriculture Ministry’s crop research institute Alaa Khalil said, according to Reuters Arabic. Egypt would not need to import rice as the production would exceed the local demand of 3.2 mn tonnes. Khalil did not specify whether the surplus would be earmarked for exports, which the Sisi administration had previously banned on the grounds that exporting rice is effectively exporting water. We’re still not quite sure why we’re upping our white rice production, given that producing fewer water-intensive crops is a key ambition of the USD 50 bn plan announced by Irrigation Minister Mohamed Abdel Atti in April. The strategy is supported by legislative amendments to the Agriculture Act, and aims to clamp down on water-intensive crops to reduce water shortages.

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