OPINION: David Richardson charts farming in Egypt

No country epitomises the danger of running out of fresh water better than Egypt.

The Nile, the longest river in the world, rising in Lake Victoria and passing through 10 countries on its way to the Mediterranean, might appear an inexhaustible supply. But some of those countries have already erected dams to collect water from the river before it reaches Egypt and two, Uganda and Ethiopia, are building more.

The Nile, which, in ancient times, flooded and inundated the Delta with fertile alluvium each year enabling Egypt to become the first nation to export surplus grain to its Mediterranean neighbours, is these days reduced to a relative trickle before it reaches the sea. This is partly because of the Aswan dam built by President Nasser in the 1960s to control the flow but is also a reflection of the huge consumption of water, 80% of it for agricultural irrigation, as it passes through the country.

And as the Farmers Weekly study tour party saw all too clearly as we travelled the vast desert, without fresh water Egypt would be lost. The land might get rain every 10 years and there is no farm production that cannot be reached by canals or pipes from the Nile. Furthermore, the ever-growing population, currently about 90 million, has less than three-quarters of the fresh water available per person than is internationally recommended.

That said, crop yield from pure sand is remarkable. We visited one 20,000ha state-controlled cooperative, for instance, originally inspired and funded by the USSR after it had loaned Nasser the cash to build his dam, where many centre pivots had been installed. It was well managed, if in a Soviet style, and yields of wheat, sugar beet, potatoes, top fruit and so on were excellent.

The water for irrigation was piped from the Nile and fertiliser added as it was applied by the pivots. Crops were virtually free of disease, having had only a modest amount of fungicide and the high yields claimed almost 12t/ha (5t/acre) of spring wheat, for instance, were just about believable.

Another, large privately owned farm on similar land, was better managed and was achieving similar results, although it was having to rely on water from deep bores for irrigation. The government, still influenced by the Soviet past perhaps, was reluctant to give it access to Nile water. In this case, the site was close to the Delta and the manager claimed the bore water table was being maintained. Further away from natural replenishment bore levels are sinking and salinity is a growing problem.

But most of the farming on 4% of the countrys land area is done by part-timers whose holdings get smaller each generation as Muslim law dictates land is split between the male members of families when the father dies. It is estimated that between 35% and 40% of the population farm in this way. We met school teachers, policemen and office workers who helped on farms using hand tools and donkeys on a few acres. In some cases, the crops were impressive. But the flood irrigation they used was wasteful and should be replaced by more economical trickle techniques.

The work is hard, the profits minimal, the production inadequate to feed the nation. Egypt is one of the biggest recipients of food aid in the world. And now locusts have attacked crops in the north. A lot of what we experienced wouldnt have been out of place in the Old Testament.

David Richardson farms about 400ha of arable land near Norwich in Norfolk in partnership with his wife, Lorna. His son, Rob, is farm manager.

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