The Director General of Extension in the Eastern Province announces the cultivation of 70,000 acres of sugar beet crop

This year, Al-Sharqiya Governorate witnessed a great demand for the cultivation of the sugar beet crop due to its high productivity, as it is an inexpensive crop to grow for the farmer, as well as being profitable and with a new economic return by leasing the harvested lands to sheep shepherds to feed their animals on the crop’s residues as green fodder in exchange for a fee.

Engineer Ashraf Demirdash, Director General of Extension in the Directorate of Agriculture in Sharkia Governorate, said that 70,000 acres have been cultivated since the beginning of the planting season until now, out of the total targeted area in the governorate this year of 89,500 acres, noting that sugar beet cultivation began in Sharkia Governorate, specifically in the sector. The North in 1994 by cultivating 40 acres, then its cultivation spread and increased year after year, noting that the centers of the North had an abundance of sugar beet cultivation in the centers of Sun Al-Hajar. The Abu Omar facility, Al-Husseiniyah, Awlad Saqr, and Kafr Saqr in particular are different from all centers in general, due to the high percentage of salinity in the soil in those centers.

Al-Demerdash continued to Al-Youm Al-Sabea that beets are one of the profitable and rewarding crops for the farmer, as they are a contract crop. Beets are grown in three periods, the first early, starting from mid-August until mid-September, the second medium, from mid-September until mid-October, and the third late, from mid-August to mid-September. From the month of October until the end of November, 20 specialists were trained on beet cultivation methods, beet cultivation from seed seeds until harvest, and guidance seminars and schools are held. A field farm for sugar beet farmers, providing them with insight into the optimal methods of cultivation, how to achieve plant density, and examination methods to discover diseases that affect beet leaves, such as spot spot, and how to treat it. He pointed out that the share of fertilizer is disbursed to beet farmers from agricultural cooperative societies at the rate of 3 bags of urea or 5 liters.

The Director General of Extension continued, “The farmers were contracted by a number of companies, including Sharkia, Dakahlia, Nile, Delta, Canal, and Nubaria.” Some of those companies provided seeds free of charge to a number of farmers in first-crop cultivation, in addition to paying a sugar punt and a supply premium, noting that the price per ton is approximately From 2400 pounds.