Planting of the mainly irrigated wheat crop, to be harvested from mid-April 1998, is underway. The official agricultural plan aims at adding new land for agriculture to be planted with improved varieties of wheat, rice and maize. Isolated mature adults of desert locusts were present at several locations near the Nile River Valley south of Aswan and on the coastal plains near Halaib and Wadi Diib at the end of September. Breeding is expected to occur in the south-east along the coastal plains and sub-coastal wadis which could lead to the formation of hopper groups and small bands. There is a risk that locust numbers could increase significantly since breeding this year is expected to occur earlier than in previous years.
Production of wheat in 1996/97 declined by some 4 percent to about 5.5 million tons, due to lower yields as a result of strong dust storms and high temperatures at the end of the growing season. The output of maize in 1996/97 is estimated at 5.4 million tons.
Imports of wheat and wheat flour in 1997/98 (July/June) are forecast at 7 million tons, whereas coarse grains imports are forecast at 3.2 million tons.