Egypt's local wheat buying price may push farmers away from growing

CAIRO: The local wheat buying price announced by Egypt on Wednesday will not be profitable for farmers and may push them to plant other less strategic crops in coming seasons, farmers syndicate head Hussein Abou Saddam told Reuters.

Saddam said the syndicate had requested that Egypt offer 700 pounds per ardeb (150 kilograms), higher than the 600 pounds announced after a cabinet meeting on Wednesday and ahead of the wheat harvest that begins this month.

Egypt, the world's largest wheat importer, said it was setting its local buying price based on the average price it has paid for foreign wheat.