An analytical study to assess the impact of price and productivity policies for the most important food grain crops in Egypt

Document Type : Research article

Authors

Agricultural Economics Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Al-Azhar University, Assuit, Egypt

Abstract

The state directs economic resources to achieve the greatest possible economic and social returns. It is concerned with the implementation of  a group of pricing and productivity policies which have a significant role in the performance of the agricultural sector, especially in strategic crops such as wheat and rice, to improve their productivity and to improve the competitive position in the external markets, the method of partial analysis and application of the partial equilibrium model, the policy analysis matrix, the use of financial and economic analysis to assess the production policies have been used. The study aimed at identifying the impact of price and productivity policies adopted by the state on the welfare of producers and consumers, the extent of loss of society and the revenues of the state. The study reached many results, including the following: First, using the partial balance model during the period (2000-2017), it was found that the society lost about 55.7% and 602 million pounds in production. The loss of consumption amounted to about 680.5 and 110.5 million pounds respectively. In terms of the rice crop, the welfare of the producers did not materialize, and the welfare of the rice consumers was achieved. As for the country's revenues, the state's revenues from foreign exchange amounted to LE 990.6 million and LE 24500 million. The government income for the wheat crop equivalent to 2880 million pounds, while the increase in government income for rice crop was estimated at about 20040 million pounds, and wheat and rice producers received support of about 7% and 43% respectively of the world price because they got a price higher than the world price, where the nominal protection coefficient was 1.07, 1.43 Respectively, during the period (2000-2017). Second, the results of the evaluation of the productive policy through the policy matrix in 2017 showed that the producers of wheat and rice crops receive 90% 65% of the value of their production from feddan at the world price of about 14174, 20864 pounds. This means that domestic prices are lower than their global theory and that they bear taxes and the production requirements for both wheat and rice support about 6% and 7% of the world price. The decrease of this subsidy means that the local price is close to the international price, and that there is a comparative advantage for Egypt in producing Wheat and rice crops for the year 2017. The study recommends the following: a) Work to increase the support of production inputs, so that they are available at reasonable prices, in order to ensure minimum agricultural price limits for wheat, commensurate with the international price. b) Preserving the foreign markets of rice, as Egypt has a productive and favorable advantage in the rice crop, contributing to the provision of foreign exchange.

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