The average local wheat production registered from 13 to 14 ardebs (= 2.5-2.7 cubic meters) annually, while the local production capacity is 33 ardebs (6.4 cubic meters), according to the Chamber of Cereal & Its Products at the Federation of Egyptian Industries.

Ali Sharaf El-Din, chairman of the chamber, said there are lack in seeds and absence of researches and studies on increasing the productivity of the land. Egypt has large agricultural lands suitable for wheat cultivation and its produced wheat is better than that of America and Russia, he affirmed. 80% of Egypt’s wheat crop is being lost because of bad storage.

Egypt’s wheat domestic consumption is 15 million tons annually; of which 7 million tons are locally produced. The average wheat consumption per person in Egypt ranges between 170 and 180 kilograms annually, while the average wheat consumption per person in foreign countries is 40 kilograms, he added.

Sharaf El-Din stressed that the bread production shall be from the top priorities of the new government, criticizing El Ganzouri’s government that started contacting the chamber 15 days after Mohamed Morsi was named as the president.