By Arab Desk
According to what the official overseeing the project told Sky News Arabia, its aim is to improve the strawberry crop in Egypt, as well as export abroad and provide hard currency.
The Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture had announced that it had signed a memorandum of cooperation with the University of Florida in the United States of America, according to which the latter would provide Egypt with the best varieties and seedlings of distinguished strawberries, which are needed globally, to be grown in Egypt and exported to various countries around the world, thanks to the establishment of the first center of scientific excellence, research and development of varieties.New strawberries, raspberries and citrus fruits in Egypt and Africa.
Project details
The scientific supervisor of the project, who is the director of the international strawberry breeding program at the University of Florida, USA, Dr Fahim Qura, told Sky News Arabia:
- I proposed the idea of this project to the Egyptian authorities when I took up my post at the University of Florida several years ago.
Strawberry varieties from the University of Florida have entered Egypt since the 1990s, and these varieties had a cultivation method, called fridge cultivation, that is, the frozen seedlings came from America and were planted in Egypt in October or November, and began to produce in February or March until June when the harvest ends.
- During this period, Egypt could not enter the European market or be competitive in exports, so the resulting harvest was consumed in Egypt or exported only to Arab countries, because the season of export to Europe would have ended at that time.
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The export season to Europe starts in November and ends in February, after that Europe depends on the Spanish, Greek and Italian market.
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The idea started by sending the mothers of the seedlings to Egypt in the month of March, and they are incubated in nurseries, and the soft seedlings are taken from these nurseries and planted in the month of September, and so Egypt became able to export to Europe in the export season we mentioned, and at the highest price.
The strawberry cultivation system in Egypt has changed from the “refrigerated” system to the “fresh farming” system, thanks to the American company Ekland California, which owns the intellectual property of the varieties from the University of Florida and the United States.
Remove Obstacles
Dr. Fahim Qura explained that the project encountered difficulties in the beginning, saying:
- The obstacle to the arrival of good strawberry plants from America in Egypt was the lack of intellectual property rights that preserve the rights of the University of Florida and the Ekland company, so I contacted officials in Egypt, and we have worked to overcome the obstacles to achieve this.
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According to my position, I work to send the best varieties of strawberries to Egypt for cultivation and export abroad, and the number of varieties that currently reach Egypt has reached more than 15 varieties, which were going to Spain and other countries and were only reaching us after 7 years, then they ended and other varieties appeared.
Over the past three years, thanks to these efforts, Egypt has become able to obtain new varieties as they appear, according to the needs of the markets around the world, and we have exported fresh strawberries to more than 68 countries, and frozen strawberries in more than 76 countries every year.
- Egypt has all the required capabilities and an appropriate climate, and it only lacked legal protection and intellectual property rights, and that was achieved and resulted in this great boom, as far as Egypt is now the first in the world in the export of frozen strawberries and an advanced center of the export of fresh strawberries.
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Many countries, instead of cultivating themselves or importing from other countries at a higher cost, have become dependent on cheaper and better quality imports from Egypt.
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Therefore, the University of Florida and the Eckland company thought of reducing the size of their nurseries in America, Europe and other countries, and expanding to Egypt because of the low cost and quality from production.
Hence the establishment of Nubariya Nursery in Buhaira Governorate, North of Cairo, to make Egypt the largest international center for growing strawberry seedlings of these distinguished varieties from the University of Florida, and of their export to all countries of the world.
The plan also includes the operation of new advanced nurseries in Egypt with a production capacity of over 15 million seedlings per year, to meet the growing demand for strawberry plants and seedlings and other seedlings required in Egypt and around the world. the world.
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Source: In detail… Egyptian-American cooperation for the production and export of strawberry plants
