*** Egyptian women are training in a new fanning technology which has given rise to thousands of greenhouses on newly reclaimed land. ***

CAIRO - Merwat Mohammed Babry and Hahid Mohammed Said examine the progress of the sweet pepper plants they have nurtured.

out just right amount of chemicals she will need to raise juicy tomatoes 'hydroponically.' or growing them without soil in a mixture of ‘water and nutrients.

Hayam Gemin and Samar Ridah check on a new crop for Egypt - Chinese mushrooms. These are doing nicely on blocks of moist straw implanted with spores, much as nature generates mushrooms on damp tree trunks.

The women, who are agricultural engineers, are among the trainees and employees of the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamations Dokki Research and Training Centre, an island of green amidst Cairo's ever-expanding sea of concrete.

They are exploring the potentials of "protected cultivation.' or Intensified production of vegetables and fruits under plastic greenhouses using carefully controlled amounts of water and fertiliser

Since 1980 the Dokki Centre has trained 800 specialists In protected cultivation. assisted by a US 01.3 million grant from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and technical support from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)

The technology holds great

promise for getting more yields from crops grown in small plots of land, and helping the government realise its goal of a yearly 3.6 percent in-tton. P

Egypt, with a population of over 53 million and annual population growth rate of 2.7 percent, has reclaimed some desert lands for agriculture. But this to a stow and costly process.

On economic grounds atone, protected cultivation Is attractive. It can lead to seven fold Increases In land productivity according to Ayman F Abou-Hadid, national director of the UNDP-supported protected cultivation project at Dokki. This more than offsets expenses such as Infrastructure (a typical plastic greenhouse covering 500 sq m costs US 02,500). regular sup phe. of quality seed. fertilisers and pesticides and train »ng

"A good (production) average tn the open Reids is three kilograms of tomatoes per square metre of land. We get as much as 20 kgs per sq m under plastic.' says Mr Abou Hadid.

Protected farming also requires two-thirds less water than open field farming — a crucial saving as farmers de pend entirely on a limited water supply from the Nile. The use of plastic covers further makes it easier to control pests and diseases.

The Dokki Centre's experi-

ers and fruit crops do well under plastic. including pineap

10 years normally needed for a new olive tree tobbear fruit.

production of virus-free rootstocks for citrus and olive trees.

igSf^prot^d 'cultivation has given rise to thousands of greenhouses on newly reclaimed land, two-thirds of them privately owned.

Nucleus for research, training and Information concerning all aspects of protected cultivation Is the Dokki Centre, which offers courses women, are recent graduates of agricultural colleges who plan to apply for the five acres of land and one greenhouse that the government is offering to qualified applicants in newly reclaimed desert areas.

Others are already practis Ing farmers such as Abdul Wahab, who grows fruits, vegetables and wheat as well as clover for fodder In Nouboria. a major desert reclamation area 150 kms west of Cairo.

I came ta this course to help me with my work.' she says "My watermelons grow well under protected cultlva tion I also wow tomatoes, cucumbers and cantaloupes.'

— Depthnews Asia