Last year, the Egyptian government announced their plans to give their domestic economy a boost with the realization of more than 40,000 hectares of protected crops. Ever since, Egypt has been exploring the opportunities with various partner countries and key players within the international horticultural industry. The first project has been announced on various locations throughout Egypt last year and construction of demo and commercial projects have begun.
Also the Egyptian National Commission for Protective Cultivation is currently developing a large scale greenhouse project. Ashraf Fouad, marketing and trading manager at the NCPC, informed us that his group is currently developing a first phase, 205 hectare project for the cultivation of fresh produce. This project will make use of both shade houses and plastic greenhouses. Fouad says that they have teamed up with both Chinese and Spanish greenhouse manufacturers to initiate their plans. One of the greenhouse builders will be Rufepa Techno Agro from Spain. The NCPC has signed a contract with Rufepa for the turnkey delivery of 205 hectare, including screening systems, irrigation systems, drainage collection and UV disinfection, air heating system, high and low pressure fog-systems, recirculation fans, harvesting manual and electrical trolleys, gutter channels, coco-peat and other parts.
The signing ceremony between Rufepa and the Egyptian delegates earlier this year.
Fouad informs us that the construction of the first greenhouses, shade houses and packing facilities has begun and that the first crops are planned for November 2017. "We have several greenhouse structures under construction right now, in various sizes from 0.5 hectare to 1.5 hectare. Next to this the nethouses will be developed in sizes of 5 hectares."
The project is located close to the Alexandria Seaport. Fouads group plans to grow crops like cherry tomatoes, beef tomatoes, TOV tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, chillies, lettuce, herbs, grapes, green beans, strawberries and pumpkins. "We are aiming at European export markets and are available to grow basically any kind of crop, based on the customers preferences and demand. Our entire system from seeding to growing, post harvesting, quality control and cold chain development is set up to meet the highest standards of our export markets. That is also why we will apply all Global GAP and other important certification standards."
For more information:
Ashraf Fouad
National Co. for Protective Cultivation