The Government of Egypt plans to implement a new wheat procurement system from April next year in time for the 2016 season harvest. The new measure aims to encourage domestic wheat production by directly subsidizing farmers with 1 300 Egyptian pounds per feddan (USD 546/hectares) up to a maximum of 255 feddans (107 hectares) per farmer. Under the current subsidy system, the Government buys wheat from producers at prices that are above those on the international market. However, this has led to the practice of smuggling cheap foreign wheat into the country for resale to the Government.