Climate Change, Agriculture and Rural Communities’ …
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Table 2 Field crops’ groups and the impact of urban expansion on agricultural land by 2030
Field crops’
group
% reduction
of field
crops’
agricultural
land area in
the Nile
Delta due to
urbanization
of total
Egypt
% reduction
of field
crops’
production in
the Nile
Delta due to
urbanization
of total
Egypt
% reduction
of field
crops’ net
value in the
Nile Delta
due to
urbanization
of total
Egypt
% reduction
of field
crops’ water
requirements
in the Nile
Delta due to
urbanization
of total
Egypt
% reduction
of field
crops’
working days
in the Nile
Delta due to
urbanization
of total
Egypt
Cereals
2.59
2.81
2.40
3.02
2.55
Sugar crops
2.07
1.40
1.39
0.84
1.53
Oil crops
1.41
1.29
1.37
1.33
1.41
Pulses
2.51
2.41
1.06
2.46
2.52
Vegetables
2.49
2.22
1.78
2.50
2.52
Clover
(berseem)
3.10
2.75
3.71
3.65
3.10
Medicinal
crops
0.41
0.11
4.41
0.41
0.41
Cotton
3.95
3.86
3.57
3.95
3.95
% reduction
of total
Egypt
2.58
2.33
2.30
2.67
2.49
Source Calculated by the author based on Capmas [13] and Mohamed et al. [29]
3.3.1 Impact of Urban Expansion on Agricultural Land
The reduction of the field crops cropping area by 330,000 feddan would affect agriculture in the Nile Delta governorates. The impact on the field crops’ land area,
production, net value and employment is addressed below.
Impact on Field Crops’ Agricultural Area
The loss of 218,400 feddan would reduce the cropping area by 330,000 feddan. This
loss would reduce the field crops’ agricultural land area in Egypt by about 2.6% (see
Table 2).
Impact on Field Crops’ Production
The reduction of the agricultural area by about 2.6% would cause a decrease in the
total production by about 2.3% compared to the field crops’ situation in Egypt in