Egypt Fruits insights

Dr. Ahmed Helmy Hussein, Director of the Horticultural Research Institute affiliated to the Agricultural Research Center, said that a research team headed by Dr. Ahmed Othman Hamada, Head of Research at the Fruit Breeding Research Department at the Institute, was able to register five male date palms from the department's program at the Shendweel Island Research Station, in accordance with Ministerial Resolution No. 325 of 2024. This registration is the first in Egypt to register male palm varieties, under the auspices of Dr. Adel Abdel Azim, Head of the Agricultural Research Center. The Director of the Institute added that there are no males classified and registered before to pollinate different varieties of palms and import different palm varieties with great economic value. Dr. Ahmed Helmy Hussein, Director of the Institute, praised the research team and the effort made to make this work a success as the first registration of male varieties in Egypt. For his part, Dr. Ahmed Othman Hamada, Head of Research at the Fruit Breeding Research Department, said that male palms arise from seed cultivation, so they vary in all morphological characteristics, and when pollinated, some differences appear, such as early or late ripening and the percentage of falling, which also affects the physical characteristics. For fruits such as weight, diameter and length of the fruit as well as chemical properties.

Alaa Farouk, Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, met with Abbas Al-Hajj Hassan, Lebanese Minister of Agriculture, to discuss ways to enhance cooperation in the field of agriculture and related activities, in the presence of Eng. Mustafa Al-Sayyad, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, within the framework of ongoing coordination with our brothers in Lebanon. Farouk stressed the directives of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Republic, to provide all forms of support to our brothers in Lebanon. During the meeting, the two ministers reviewed issues related to the exchange of agricultural products between the two countries and the removal of obstacles that may affect the flow of agricultural goods between the Egyptian and Lebanese sides, including Egypt's exports of potatoes, in addition to regulating the export of mangoes and palm seedlings to Lebanon, as well as importing some goods that distinguish the brotherly state of Lebanon. For his part, the Lebanese minister stressed that Egypt is the primary destination for importing what Lebanon needs, not only agricultural products, but also a number of industrial and medical products, among others, pointing to the efforts made by Egypt to stand during its recent ordeal, in addition to discussing the issue related to exporting citrus fruits to the Lebanese side. Read also | Agriculture stresses the importance of contractual agriculture

The Egyptian government has decided to reduce subsidies to support exports, including agricultural exports, from November 1, 2024. In the agricultural sector, subsidies have been reduced from 8-10% to 2.4-3% of invoices, EastFruit reports.