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394876

The Economic Role of the Agricultural Extension Sector in Reducing the Sugar Gap in Egypt

Article

Last updated: 01 Jan 2025

Subjects

-

Tags

Agricultural economics

Abstract

Although sugar is one of Egypt's key strategic commodities, local production remains insufficient to meet consumption needs, resulting in a sugar deficit that is covered through imports. This study sheds light on the nature of sugar production in Egypt. The findings reveal that the country currently relies heavily on sugar beet as the primary crop for sugar production. However, sugar beet yields in Egypt are below global averages, unlike sugarcane, for which Egypt records the highest yields worldwide. This prompted the research to investigate the reasons behind the low productivity of sugar beet, which were found to be related to the crop's preference for colder climates. Increasing sugar beet productivity is thus seen as the key to bridging the sugar gap. The study also emphasizes the role of agricultural extension services by analyzing their structure and the support they provide to sugar crop farmers, particularly those cultivating sugar beet in promising regions like Alexandria Governorate. By focusing on the 2021/2022 harvest season, the research assesses the role of the agricultural extension sector in reducing the sugar gap through the services offered to farmers. A comparison between extension-supported fields and other (control) fields indicates that reliance on agricultural extension services increases agricultural productivity by 13–15% per feddan.
 

DOI

10.21608/asejaiqjsae.2024.394876

Keywords

Sugar beet, Sugarcane, sugar, Sugar Gap, Agricultural extension sector, Sugar exports and imports, Sugar extension fields

Authors

First Name

Mohamed

Last Name

Soultan

MiddleName

A.

Affiliation

Department of Agricultural Economics - Faculty of Agriculture - Alexandria University - Egypt

Email

mohamed.soultan@alexu.edu.eg

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

Sherin

Last Name

W. El Warraqy

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Institute of International Transport and Logistics - Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport.

Email

-

City

-

Orcid

-

Volume

45

Article Issue

4

Related Issue

51107

Issue Date

2024-12-01

Receive Date

2024-10-25

Publish Date

2024-12-30

Page Start

1,179

Page End

1,191

Print ISSN

1110-0176

Online ISSN

2536-9784

Link

https://asejaiqjsae.journals.ekb.eg/article_394876.html

Detail API

https://asejaiqjsae.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=394876

Order

25

Type

Original Article

Type Code

53

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Alexandria Science Exchange Journal

Publication Link

https://asejaiqjsae.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

The Economic Role of the Agricultural Extension Sector in Reducing the Sugar Gap in Egypt

Details

Type

Article

Created At

23 Dec 2024