Agriculture technology utilization and transfer (ATUT)

The project, to be implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation with assistance from an institutional contractor and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, will: (1) identify and transfer to the private sector new horticultural production, post-harvesting, and marketing technologies; and (2) promote collaborative research on the major constraints to increased productivity of selected staple food crops. The horticulture component will address the lack of export-related production, processing, and marketing technologies through activities in technology transfer and adaptive research. For technology transfer, the project will support the transfer or adaptation of existing technologies (both management practices and products such as improved plant varieties). Activities will include seminars, workshops, pamphlets, trips to the United States or third countries, and presentations to the Egyptian private and public sector by visiting experts. For adaptive research, the project will provide grants for research projects developed collaboratively by the private sector and by U.S. and Egyptian institutes and universities, with emphasis on sustainable agricultural practices, e.g., reducing the inefficient use of agrochemicals or increasing water use efficiency at the field level. The food crops component will review existing food crops research programs in order to identify the major constraints to increasing productivity of at least three important cereals (wheat, rice, and corn) and at least one other food crop (e.g., fava bean). The project will finance a multi-year program of short-term TA from the USDA to scientists within Egyptian research institutions to address these important areas. The strategic program may include research in: integrated pest management for cereal crops; genetic engineering for pest or disease resistance; and traditional breeding for drought tolerance.