The Egyptian government is about to launch a new "modern" irrigation system

The Egyptian government is continuing its policy of rationalising water consumption. It will simply replace the irrigation system currently in place. The Egyptian Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources and the Ministry of Agriculture will soon launch a new “modern” irrigation system.

This is a change of method recommended by the experts. It involves replacing flood irrigation practises, such as runoff, used to grow cereals such as rice. Instead, the government advocates drip, bubble irrigation and mist spraying.

These new systems should enable Egyptian farmers to work without depleting water resources. For several months, the Egyptian government has been engaged in a plan to rationalise water consumption. The decrease in the flow of the Nile River is partly responsible for this new policy. According to the government, the amount of rainwater entering the Nile from Ethiopian mountain ranges is below seasonal standards.

As a result, the flow of the Nile will decrease by 5 billion m3. “This deficit represents 10% of Egypt’s share of the Nile’s 55.5 billion cubic metres of water, as established in a 1959 agreement allocating Nile water rights,” the Egyptian Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources recently stated. In response to this situation, in August 2019, the Egyptian government decided to amend Law 53/1966 on agriculture. Restrictions are now imposed on the cultivation of rice, sugar cane, bananas and all crops with a high water content.