Egypt’s supply ministry has received 1.03 million tonnes of wheat from farmers nationwide since the harvest season commenced in mid-April, the ministry's media advisor Mohamed Sweed told Ahram Online on Tuesday.

The government previously said it aims to buy about 4-4.5 million tonnes of wheat from farmers this season, but in April the supply minister Ali Moselhy lowered the figure to around 3.8 million tonnes.Egypt's wheat-harvest season lasts for three months.

The planning ministry announced on Tuesday that Egypt aims to increase its silo storage capacity to 3.13 million tonnes of wheat in 2017/18 from 1.528 million tonnes in 2015/16.

Sweed also said that the ministry’s examining committees have rejected 2,619 tonnes of wheat that did not meet the required quality standards.

The world's top importer of grain has been implementing policies to limit the use of private-ector silos and increase its own capacity to curb smuggling and fraud in the local market.

The price of the strategic crop, which is supplied to silos of the state’s General Authority of Supply Commodities, has been set at EGP 555 per ardeb (roughly 150 kg) for the lowest quality, while the higher quality will cost EGP 565 and EGP 575.