To encourage farmers to increase wheat cultivation, Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli said this week that, upon presidential directives, the procurement price of the strategic crop is to increase by LE150 on the price announced in August 2025 to reach LE2,500 per ardeb (150 kg).
The announcement was made to support the supply system for wheat.
In August 2025, the cabinet set procurement prices for the 2025-2026 wheat season according to levels of purity at LE2,250, LE2,300, and LE2,350 per ardeb, respectively.
Fluctuations in global fuel prices prompted the government in March to raise domestic fuel prices, including diesel, a key component in agricultural production costs.
“This price has exceeded our expectations, especially as the previously announced base price was already rewarding,” said Hussein Abu Saddam, head of the Farmers’ Syndicate.
The increase in the procurement price of wheat was made to compensate farmers for the rise in diesel prices and to guarantee expected returns despite higher harvesting costs, which depend heavily on diesel-powered machinery.
The US-Israeli war on Iran has disrupted global oil markets, driving prices to new highs. This has prompted Egypt to raise the prices of all petroleum products, including diesel, by approximately LE3 per litre, bringing the price to LE20.5.
The aim of the rise in procurement prices is also to discourage farmers from abandoning wheat cultivation in favour of alternative crops that may offer higher yields or greater profitability, Abu Saddam said.
The wheat planting season runs from November to April, while the harvest extends from April to August.
The government has raised wheat procurement prices nearly threefold since 2022. The price of one ardeb of high-quality wheat stood at LE885 in 2022 and LE1,000 in 2023.
Egypt is the world’s largest importer of wheat, and the war against Iran has contributed to rising prices of essential commodities. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has further disrupted maritime traffic, adversely affecting shipping flows and costs.
The war has also led to an appreciation of the dollar against the Egyptian pound, which has risen by around 12 to 14 per cent since 28 February.
The government seeks to support farmers and encourage the expansion of wheat cultivation to increase local supply, reduce wheat imports, and maintain market stability, especially amid global rises in grain prices.
More than 3.7 million feddans have been cultivated with wheat in the 2025-2026 season, an increase of 500,000 feddans compared to the previous year, said the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation.
The government aims to increase wheat productivity to 3.3 tons per feddan by 2030 as part of a national programme aimed at raising the wheat self-sufficiency rate from 47 per cent in 2021 to 70 per cent by 2030.
Abu Saddam said that the cost of cultivating one feddan of wheat currently stands at LE30,000 for landowners, rising to LE50,000 for tenant farmers.
Average wheat productivity is estimated at 24 ardebs per feddan, while the government expects total wheat procurement to reach five million tons, an increase of one million tons compared to last year.
Coupled with the increase in areas cultivated with wheat, Abu Saddam believes that the price rise will encourage farmers to expand further in wheat cultivation. He also pointed to the development of new varieties of wheat better adapted to current climatic changes and capable of boosting productivity.
Khaled Gad, spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture, said that raising the procurement price plays in the farmers’ favour. He said that a profit margin is added to cultivation costs regardless of global prices, ensuring that farmers do not incur losses and are encouraged to continue planting in the following season.
Minister of Agriculture Alaa Farouk said Egypt has achieved unprecedented levels of wheat production this year after the average yield per feddan rose to 19.6 ardebs. This places Egypt among the leading countries globally in terms of productivity per feddan.
The increased productivity has been achieved through the use of modern techniques on relatively limited land areas, he added, noting that this is part of the ministry’s strategy to enhance food security and boost domestic agricultural production.
Gad added that five new high-yield wheat varieties are expected to be introduced in the next planting season, alongside efforts to expand wheat cultivation through agricultural projects implemented by the state and the Future of Egypt Authority in order to increase the total cultivated area.
A Ministry of Supply official told Al-Borsa, a financial daily, that local wheat procurement rates surged by 117 per cent at the start of the 2026 season compared to the same period last year, despite that season not having officially launched yet.
A number of national agricultural projects have been launched to achieve self-sufficiency in strategic commodities, foremost among them wheat. These include the 1.5 Million Feddan Development Project, managed by the Egyptian Countryside Development Company, and the Future of Egypt project, which forms part of the New Delta initiative.
There are also land-reclamation efforts underway in the East Oweinat area under the management of the National Company for Land Reclamation and Desert Cultivation.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 30 April, 2026 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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