Optimum Cropping Patterns of El- Behaira Governorate (Winter Season)

Abstract

Two fundamental factors contribute to Egypt's food security challenge: the rapidly growing population and the limited availability of agricultural land. Expanding agricultural land in Egypt is tightly constrained by the availability of water. This research aimed to develop an optimization model for the determination of cropping patterns to get the maximum profits of EL-Behaira governorate in winter season. Decision variables are the governorate total cultivated area, soil type, soil salinity, available water, potential crop yield, crop tolerance to salinity, irrigation system efficiency and irrigation water salinity. The objective function of the model is based on crop-salinity production function, crop value and production total costs. The model is solved using solver application of Microsoft Excel. The model gives the optimal distribution of crops area, water and profits. Four scenarios were introduced. Two represent un-restricted solutions; means that the objective function based on the maximum income as a function of crop value, tolerance to salinity and available water only. The other two scenarios take into account local market requirements and food security. Seven winter crops were selected; clover, sugar beet, wheat, barley, tomatoes and flax. These crops represent 97.5 % of crop cultivated area in El-Behaira governorate. The total available water in the winter season is 1.236 billion m 3 . The total crop area of the governorate is 592,771 Feddan (248,963 hectare). In the first un-restricted solution (URS1) all crops were assumed to be irrigated by the surface irrigation system. The optimum solution was to cultivate only three crops; barley, clover and wheat. The net return was L. E. 1.72 billion, 45.92 % of the income related to barely follow by clover 38.47% and wheat 15.61%.