Source: Global Times
The website of Brazil's "Forumn" magazine reported on May 23 that an ambitious agricultural project is turning a desert area in southern Egypt into a huge sugar beet farm, which has received investment from the UAE and support from Chinese technology. This project, named "Canal Sugar Industry," will cultivate about 50,000 hectares of land in the desert of Minya Province, Egypt, to provide raw materials for a large sugar factory with an annual production capacity of 900,000 tons of raw sugar.
According to Arun Baldwin, the agricultural planting project manager of "Canal Sugar Industry," the yield of sugar beets increased by 50% in just the second year of planting. The project relies on a powerful irrigation system. The Chinese company Zhongman Group is responsible for drilling artesian wells to complete an irrigation network of 350 wells to ensure sufficient water supply for the plantation. The "Canal Sugar Industry" project not only aligns with China's Belt and Road Initiative but also meets Egypt's national plan to "turn deserts into farmland."
Egypt consumes about 3.3 million tons of sugar annually, but its production is around 2.8 million tons. With the commissioning of this project, it is expected to reduce dependence on imports.
Ahmed Soliman, the Egyptian base manager of Zhongman Group, described participating in this project as "a dream come true": "When I first came here, I never thought that this desert could turn into such a large-scale farm."
"Canal Sugar Industry" is a typical case of international cooperation in sustainable development and food security in arid areas, demonstrating the role of cross-national and cross-sector resource integration in ecological transformation. (Author: Yara Vidal, translated by Xiao Tong)
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7508523248854762036/
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