Food & Climate
Tomatoes in Egypt get 8 new varieties of tomato seeds, with great capabilities to resist pests and difficult climatic conditions.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation announced the success of the national program for the production of vegetable crop seeds, in developing the new varieties today, Wednesday, January 1, 2025, according to a statement received by the “Food & Climate” platform.
Tomatoes in Egypt are an important crop in the export basket or local consumption, as they are a main ingredient in most Egyptians’ meals.
Egypt cultivates 500,000 acres annually, producing more than 6 million tons, 3% of which are exported fresh, but the largest quantities it sells abroad are in the form of tomato paste and puree.
Tomatoes in Egypt grows throughout the year through 3 seasons, due to the climate’s suitability for them, which prompted the Saudi company “Karry Foods Industries” to invest in a tomato paste production plant in Sadat City (west of the capital, Cairo).
However, the Farmers Syndicate complained last September about tomato crop losses due to higher-than-normal temperatures at this time of year.
Egypt has been experiencing severe heat waves for two years, which have negatively affected agricultural crops and electricity generation, leading to power outages for two hours a day last summer.
New seeds of tomatoes in Egypt
Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, Alaa Farouk, reviewed the new tomato seed varieties in Egypt, which were developed by the Agricultural Research Center; represented by the Horticultural Research Institute and the National Program for Vegetable Seed Production, and in partnership with a number of private sector companies.
According to the statement, the new varieties that were evaluated and selected from among 15 varieties, of date and spherical fruit types, suitable for different tastes of consumers, are characterized by their high productivity, ranging between 35 and 40 tons per acre, in addition to their resistance to diseases and pests, and their suitability for climatic conditions.
The statement indicated that the registration of two distinctive varieties of them is currently being completed, and the rest of the broad evaluation procedures for the other six varieties are being completed.
The Minister of Agriculture requested the expansion of the development of new varieties of other vegetable crops, to reduce the import bill from abroad, and to provide Egyptian seeds and seedlings to farmers at reasonable prices.
Farouk stressed the importance of partnership with the private sector, and integrating it into agricultural development efforts, to contribute to achieving food security in the country.
Summer Heat
The head of the Farmers Syndicate in Egypt, Hussein Abdel Rahman Abu Saddam, said in statements to local media that his country ranks sixth in the world in tomato production and first in the Arab world and Africa.
He added that tomato cultivation in Egypt is carried out through 3 seasons, noting that the summer season; Which is planted between February and May, and production begins in June until August, and usually extends over an area of 250 thousand acres out of the 500 thousand acres planted in the country, its area decreased last summer to less than 200 thousand acres.
Abu Saddam attributed the decrease in the area planted with tomato bushes in Egypt to the high cost of agriculture and the losses of farmers in previous seasons, in addition to the decrease in production to less than 15 tons per acre due to the high temperature.
He added that the high temperature led to the fall of flowers, negatively affected the growth of plants, and increased the spread of diseases, at a time when the increased cost of fertilizers and pesticides restricted the farmer’s hand from resisting this phenomenon.
This led to an increase in tomato prices in Egypt at this time by almost 5 times, according to Abu Saddam, who pointed out that tomatoes are the fifth most important agricultural crop after rice, wheat, corn and potatoes in Egypt.
Tomato in Egypt introduced a chance to the country to achieve a record revenue from the sale of paste and puree on the global market in 2022, according to ” EastFruit”.
In 2022, Egypt earned $57 million from the export of tomato paste and puree, which 50% higher than the previous year’s figure. Moreover, over the previous five years, revenue from exports of this product has grown almost sixfold! In the same year.
Karry Foods Industries is a new processor of tomato paste and fruit puree in bulk located in Sadat city in Egypt. The company was created with a Saudi investment of 35 million euros and Egypt was chosen due to the good weather, and due to the fact, that in this country tomatoes can be processed 300 days/year, as fresh products are available all year round, according to “The tomato conference“.