Sunday 30 September 2018 saw the governorate of Dumyat (Damietta), on the northeast of Egypt’s Nile Delta, celebrate its first “Cotton Harvest Day”. The event was held at the village of al-Murabieen.
The celebration came under the framework of ‘The Egyptian Cotton Project’ sponsored by UNIDO and funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation. The harvest day celebrated the first cycle of successful conventional and organic cotton cultivation, resulting in premium quality long staple and extra-long staple Egyptian cotton.
The Cotton Harvest Day celebration was attended by Dumyat Governor Manal Mikhail, representatives of the ministries of agriculture, and trade and industry, also the head of Italian Agency for Development Cooperation in Egypt, international investors and renown cotton value chain representatives in the textile industry. Governor Mikhail is Egypt’s second female governor, and the first female Coptic governor.
The event featured a series of demonstrative activities on cotton cultivation and harvest, showcasing the successful first round of premium quality cotton produced.
The Egyptian Cotton project aims to advance competitiveness and demand by international markets, and prioritises aspects of sustainability, inclusiveness and value addition of the Egyptian long-staple and extra-long staple cotton value chain.