Economic and food security benefits associated with raised-bed wheat production in Egypt

Jeffrey Alwang,Habib Halila,Atef Swelam,Samy Sabry,Kamel Shideed

doi:10.1007/s12571-018-0794-3

Abstract

Countries in the West Asia and North Africa (WANA) region are dependent on imports of wheat to meet their food security needs. Mechanized raised-bed wheat production is an effective means of increasing productivity and saving scarce water, but the technology needs substantial adaptation to local conditions. This paper estimates the economic benefits from a long-term adaptive research project designed to adapt and promote mechanical raised-bed wheat production in Egypt. The technology itself is associated with a 25% increase in productivity due to higher yields, 50% lower seed costs, a 25% reduction in water use, and lower labor costs. The mechanical raised-bed program is now a component of Egypt’s national wheat campaign and it is estimated that by 2023 approximately 800,000 ha of wheat will be planted with the technology. This paper estimates that over a 15 year project horizon, the benefits will exceed US$ 4 billion, with most of the benefits accruing to more than one million Egyptian wheat producers. Other benefits include reduced wheat imports (by more than 50% by 2025), reduced dependence on international commodity markets and increased productivity on more than 200,000 ha of water-starved lands.

Highlights

Countries in the West Asia and North Africa (WANA) region are dependent on imports to meet food security needs (Shideed et al 2010)
Mechanized raised-bed (MRB) wheat production is an effective means of increasing water use efficiency and productivity, and its wide-scale dissemination can enhance food security by intensifying wheat production in water-scarce environments (Majeed et al 2015; Sayre and Moreno Ramos 1997)
While the rate of return to the research for development program is very high, the research costs do not include all the early development costs incurred by CIMMYT in the 1970s and later

Summary

Introduction

Countries in the West Asia and North Africa (WANA) region are dependent on imports to meet food security needs (Shideed et al 2010). Mechanized raised-bed (MRB) wheat production is an effective means of increasing water use efficiency and productivity, and its wide-scale dissemination can enhance food security by intensifying wheat production in water-scarce environments (Majeed et al 2015; Sayre and Moreno Ramos 1997). CIMMYT researchers speculated that raised bed production has wide applicability in developing countries where irrigated wheat is grown, and the technology has spread to India, Pakistan, and other Asian countries (Roth et al 2005) In these countries, evidence shows that water use efficiency is generally enhanced by the MRB technology (Roth et al 2005), but the technology has not spread appreciably into WANA, where water is a constraining element in wheat production systems (Karrou et al 2012). Successful adaptation requires identification of a specific wheat variety, adjusting bed dimensions to local conditions, creation and calibration of a mechanical bed-formation and planting machine, adjustment of irrigation regimes to local conditions, and further fine-tuning of the agronomic package (Sayre et al 2005)

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