Egypt has successfully experimented with growing wheat using high-salinity groundwater in desert areas for the first time, opening up prospects for expanding cultivation, reducing water pressure, and ensuring food security.
According to the Vietnam News Agency correspondent in Cairo, Egypt has achieved a breakthrough in cultivating salt-tolerant wheat, successfully growing the crop using high-salinity water.
The aforementioned experiment was conducted in the El-Moghra area of Matrouh province in the northwestern Egyptian desert, far from the Nile River and unsuitable for large-scale irrigation.
The water used for irrigating rice is groundwater with a salinity of up to 8,000 parts per million (ppm). Experimental results show a high germination rate, improved salt tolerance, and the potential for further yield increases with widespread application.
The grain quality also meets standard criteria, indicating potential for economic efficiency when growing food crops in high-salinity environments.
The project is part of a program to reclaim 1.5 million feddan (approximately 630,000 hectares) of Egyptian desert land, aiming to expand arable land and reduce pressure on the limited water resources of the Nile River.
Three salt-tolerant wheat varieties have been developed in collaboration with the Desert Research Centre (DRC) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, using modern farming techniques aimed at large-scale scalability.
The Chairman and CEO of the Egyptian Rural Development Company, Amr Abdel Wahab, described this as "a significant achievement both scientifically and practically," adding that the company is applying research-based methods to expand agricultural production under challenging conditions.
The 1.5 million feddan rehabilitation program is being implemented as part of Egypt's national strategy toward sustainable development, efficient resource use, and agricultural modernization.