Cairo – Dates grown in Egypt were exported to 63 foreign markets last year despite the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Amjad El-Qadi, executive director of the Food Industries Technology Center at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry of the country. Egypt has pursued a strategy to encourage local cultivation of more internationally demanded date cultivars.
According to El-Qadi, Egypt is the world’s largest date producer. But its share in the volume of global date trade is under 4%, as date exports from Egypt reached around 43,000 tons in 2020, fetching USD 43 million. The number of countries importing dates from Egypt in 2020 increased, from 50 in 2019.
The executive director said that 12 date plants in the countries joined the list of companies that meet the requirements of National Food Safety Authority last year, and other 12 plants are in the process of inclusion in the list as part of the strategy of the country’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry to develop the sector, which includes increasing the cultivation of internationally demanded date cultivars. This list includes Egyptian companies authorized to export by Egyptian health authorities.
El-Qadi ascribed the low exports of Egyptian dates to a global unfamiliarity with its cultivars, as only two types produced in the country are exported – Siwi and Saidi. They are considered dry cultivars. The executive director said the strategy to develop date production includes emphasizing the expansion of internationally demanded cultivars like Madjool and Barhi, as well as other types specific to the Gulf region that can be grown in Egypt.
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The director stressed that Egypt faces problems with some cultivations as it has happened in the province of Al-Buhaira, where large numbers of non-exportable dates like Zaghloul and Samani are grown and that some areas still use old-fashioned approaches that cause large losses.
On the impact of the pandemic on date sector , El-Qadi said that all sectors were affected by the decreased demand as many countries took restrictive measures, including in the food industry, which was damaged by the closing of stores, too.
Earlier this week, activities of the first annual meetings for dates were launched in the city of Kharga, in the New Valley governorate, Egypt.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
