Major General Amr Hanafi, Governor of the Red Sea, accompanied by Major General Sami El-Shennawy, chairman of the Upper Egypt Development Authority and Major General Hassan Afifi, project manager at the Upper Egypt Development Authority, inspected the tree forest project on an area of 3,000 acres for planting various types of trees, including 1,000 acres for planting jojoba and jatropha in the Red Sea governorate depending on water Sewage generated from the tertiary treatment plant of sewage.
The Governor of the Red Sea and the chairman of the Upper Egypt Development Authority, in the presence of Eng. Ismail Mohamed, chairman of the ELMASRIAH ELKHALIEGIA Company specialized in jojoba cultivation, praised the cultivation of jojoba plants in the tree forest due to its economic value and its distinction in providing job opportunities for young people.
In his part, Engineer Ismail Mohammed, chairman of the ELMASRIAH ELKHALIEGIA Company, said that within the tree forest project in the Red Sea Governorate, the largest project in the Arab region will be implemented to grow jojoba forests on treated sewage water from the sewage treatment plant in Hurghada, which has a capacity of 30,000 cubic meters of water today daily, reaching to 90,000 cubic meters in the second phase. He explained that the project is being carried out in cooperation between the Red Sea Governorate and the Upper Egypt Development Authority.
Ismail Mohammed added that the governor of the Red Sea and the chairman of the Upper Egypt Development Authority stressed upon the need to expand the cultivation of jojoba in the lands of the tree forest project to raise the efficiency of tertiary treatment sewage water to be used in the jojoba cultivation project within an agricultural industrial project for tree forests.
The expert in cultivating jojoba indicated that it is one of the most successful cultivations in the desert areas, the least water consuming and the highest in terms of returns to the farmer as well as its ability to withstand the risks of climatic changes such as high temperatures and salinity of water and soil. As a result, Egypt will be one of the areas of comparative advantage in the field of Jojoba cultivation.
The chairman of the ELMASRIAH ELKHALIEGIA Company explained that planting jojoba in the tree forest contributes to creating new job opportunities for young people in addition to the importance of planting these trees from an economic point of view. It also aims to preserve the unique tourist environment along the coast of the governorate and put it on the map of the largest investment governorates in Egypt.
The chairman of the ELMASRIAH ELKHALIEGIA Company stressed that the intent towards cultivating jojoba is due to the possibility of relying on irrigation with agricultural drainage water, as the case in in Siwa Oasis or processed sewage water, noting that all components and products of jojoba can be exploited. The waste resulting from oil squeezing can be used in the production of feed that is used in a number of industries including the medical and feed industries and the production of high-quality protein as an alternative to soybean protein in addition to the rest of the plant products that have many uses suck the husks of seeds and leaves the plant.
The expert in jojoba cultivation stressed that the comparative advantage of jojoba cultivation lies in its economic value especially in the production of high-quality engine oils, industrial oils, biofuels and raw materials for the clean industry which is expanding internationally. The total international trade of jojoba oils reaches more than 30 billion dollars annually.