The Gift of the Nile

"Egypt is the gift of the Nile," wrote Herodotus, referring to the great river as an inexhaustible source of the Earth's fertility. In the hot and dry Sahara desert, the Nile river creates an oasis that enjoys extraordinary climatic conditions, ideal for producing the best cotton in the world. In particular, in the river delta, the climate is characterized by regular variations, with minimum winter precipitation.
The average 190 mm annual rainfall is from December to March and is concentrated in a few days of very heavy rain. The relative humidity is quite high (60-70%), thanks to the humid breezes from the Mediterranean and the salt basins. Daily and annual changes in temperatures are low and not even in winter are there sudden changes in temperature, thanks again to the gentle winds from the sea.

Cotton is planted in late March, when the weather is slightly cooler - a condition favourable to the growth of the lower branches on young plants, where the bolls of cotton can mature in the shade of the leaves above, protected from the direct heat of the sun. In July and August, when the warm-temperate climate is very stable, the most uniform and regular cotton fibers develop.

The shaduf

The shaduf is a simple and ingenious tool first used in the second millennium BC by the Egyptian population to draw water from rivers, lakes and canals to a higher level and to water the cultivated fields, palm groves, vineyards, and orchards. According to some sources, the Shaduf was also depicted in the Akkadian reliefs of 2500 BC.
The tool consists of two stakes driven into the ground, joined at the top by a plank on which a long pole is placed. At the two ends of the pole there is a weight (a rock) and a bucket. One man, manoeuvering the pole, can easily lift heavy buckets of water and draw about 3000 liters of water per day. The shaduf is still used today in rural Egypt. When there are big differences in level, several shadufs are arranged in a series up the slope.

The modern agricultural system of Muhammad Ali

With his military modernizing reform, Muhammad Ali was keen to meet the various needs of his country: he reorganized the agricultural and educational systems, and built infrastructures, roads, canals and industries.
Starting in 1882, Muhammad Ali focused on cultivating long staple cotton as a product for market, and thus set up the entire Egyptian agriculture.
When the British textile manufacturing industry were willing to pay a good price for this cotton, Muhammad Ali ordered the majority of Egyptian farmers to cultivate cotton at the expense of other crops. Muhammad Ali then bought the entire national crop which he sold to manufacturing industries at a higher price, thus creating a monopoly. Within a few years the new cotton industry was creating a considerable revenue stream for the state.

Agriculture in Egypt

The agricultural sector has always been the fulcrum of the Egyptian economy. Still today it plays an important role in employing about 30% of the workforce and providing 15.4% of GDP (2006). Most of the cultivated land (3.5% of the land area, in terms of the delta and the Nile valley) is irrigated. The very needs imposed by the climatic conditions limit its further enlargement.
Permanently irrigated land, due to the large Aswân, Isna and Nag Hammâdi dams, continues to increase.
The permanently controlled irrigation enables up to three crops per year to be carried out in rotation, but has the downside of not being able to take full advantage of the fertile silt of the Nile.

Winter crops (scitui) include mainly wheat, onions and vegetables; the summer (sefi) regards mainly cotton, sugar cane, rice and oil-bearing plants; the autumn (nili) is mostly represented by corn and other cereals in the short growing season such as millet.

Cotton was introduced as the predominant crop in 1821. Its production reached its height between 1920 and 1930, only then to suffer a contraction.
In the first decade of the second millennium, Egypt was still the largest producer of cotton in Africa and among the top ten worldwide.

Wheat is the most prevalent cereal, followed by maize and rice, which is grown primarily in the delta with high yields.
Millet is grown in Upper Egypt. Potatoes, beans, broad beans, cabbage, onions and tomatoes are mainly consumer products. Regarding industrial crops, sugar cane is widespread, followed by sesame, peanuts, flax, olives, oranges, lemons, manderins and dates.

Cotton cultivation

Cotton is a typical plant of warm climates, and requires rather high average temperatures, with frequent rains during the growing season and a dry season during the ripening of the capsules. There needs to be a lot of light.
Cotton is suited to various soil types, except compact soils, with standing water or soils too rich in organic matter. It resists well in very saline soils. From a nutritional point of view, cotton is a not a very demanding crop.

Cotton is considered as a renewable plant. Ploughing (at 40-45 cm) is carried out before the winter and is followed by harrowing once or twice; before sowing a light harrowing can be carried out to remove any weeds.

Seeds are cast at a distance of about one meter and with a distance along the rows of 8-12 cm, to a depth of 8-12 cm. The number of plants per square meter is 12.5 and it takes 15-20 kg of seeds per hectare.

Cotton needs a lot of water during germination and 2-3 weeks before the start of flowering.
Weed competition is critical above all in the early stages of the cycle and is controlled by mechanical weeding.