THE POSSIBILITIES OF EXPANDING THE AREA, PRODUCTION AND SPECIALIZATION OF LEGUME CROPS IN SOME ARAB COUNTRIES

Abstract

The Arab world extends between the Arabian Gulf to the east and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The Arab World includes many environmental regions with different climates. The expansion of cultivated area of legumes in the Arab world is of great importance. The establishment of specialization in production is one of the most important things in the formation of a unified Arab bloc. It helps to integrate countries through the need of one country to other countries, which excelled in the production of certain goods through creativity in production and minimizing production costs to the lowest level. The Arab countries were divided regionally into the Arab Eastern Region, the Middle Region, the Arab Western Region. Some legume crops and winter and summer cereals have been studied. The problem of the study is the low area and production of legume crops at the level of the Arab world. The main reason for the decrease in the area cultivated with legume crops is the expansion of cereals crops cultivation compared to the legume crops. The study aims at the possibility of the agricultural specialization in the field of legume production and determining its success in the Arab world by measuring the effect of specialization on increasing the area, production, and reducing the production costs of legume crops, which in turn leads to the possibility of increasing the integration between the Arab countries to form a united Arab bloc to confront other economic blocs. The study focused on the possibility of production specialization of legume crops according to the principle of comparative advantage through specialization in some legume crops by expanding their area within the cereals area using published data such as FAO statistics, Arabic Organization for agriculture Development (AOAD) statistics, and websites. The study reached several results, including: In the Arab Eastern Region, it is better for Jordan to include the area of barley to green beans, increasing its production from 12.80 to 737.36 thousand tons, achieving a huge production boom that will lead to specialization in its production. Lebanon is characterized by the cultivation of lupins and can expand its area of wheat or the area of barley to increase its production, giving him the advantage to specialize in it. Yemen can expand the area of chick peas from the area of wheat or barley to increase its production when their areas added to chick peas, giving a distinction to Yemen to specialize in it. It is better for Yemen to include the area of sorghum to the area of dry beans, which leads to specialization in it. The results of the Middle Region showed that Egypt would prefer to specialize in the production of green beans by expanding it in the area of barley according to the principle of comparative advantage. Egypt is estimated to be unable to specialize in summer legumes. If Sudan plans to expand the chickpeas by adding wheat area to it, its production will increase, leading to specialization in its production. It is best to include the area of rice to the area of dry beans. The results of the Arab Western Region showed that Tunisia and Morocco cannot specialize in the production of winter legumes crops by expanding their area cultivated by adding the area of cereals to them. For summer crops, it is better for Morocco to expand soybean area by adding maize area to it. The results of Algeria pointed to the possibilities of expanding the cultivation of broad beans by adding the area of barley, which drives Algeria to specialize in it. It is better for Algeria to benefit from the relative advantage of specialization to expand the area cultivated with dry beans instead of rice to save water. We can make several recommendations from this study, which may be the most important The possibility of agricultural specialization in the production of some leguminous crops with high comparative advantages and expansion of their area at the expense of narrowing the cultivated area of some cereals crops by studying all the economic conditions surrounding their production and consumption. The importance of activating and increasing the effectiveness of the Arab specialization in the field of raising the production of legume crops, which is an appropriate input for the Arab agricultural economic integration among the Arab countries in the field of legume production. Division of the Arab countries into regions to form the nucleus for the establishment of a united Arab economic bloc and push towards a joint Arab agricultural strategy aimed at improving the Arab economy and preserving the interests of Arab countries in the global blocs.