Kafr El-Sheikh, Egypt | May 5–8, 2025 – As part of the EU-KAFI Programme’s ongoing commitment to strengthening food security in Egypt through enhanced agricultural practices, a five-day field mission was conducted this week to evaluate wheat harvesting efficiency and mechanisation performance.
The activity is a core intervention of the EU-KAFI Programme, which focuses on improving agricultural mechanization Delta Region. A specialised team of four experts from CREA (Italy’s Council for Agricultural Research and Economics), in collaboration with the Agricultural Engineering Research Institute under the Agricultural Mechanization Sector and the Hiring Service Station (HSS), the Field Crop Research Institute, led the assessment to measure wheat losses during the harvest.
The assessment took place at the model research farm of the Agricultural Engineering Research Institute in Meet El-Deeba, Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate. Using four different harvesting machines, including a reaper-binder, a 6-meter combine harvester, and a 4-meter combine harvester, the team conducted comparative tests to evaluate machine performance and assess wheat harvest losses. The field work spanned five days and included both field and laboratory evaluations to analyze moisture content, grain quality, and machine efficiency.
Early results indicate the potential to significantly improve harvest productivity while reducing grain losses, particularly by adapting harvesting technologies to different farm sizes. The tests also explored the repurposing of rice harvesting equipment for wheat, opening new possibilities for efficient equipment utilization.
The field mission concluded Thursday, May 8, with a coordination meeting between Egyptian researchers and Italian experts from CREA and the EU-Kafi PMU. The session focused on reviewing the findings, validating the collected data, and outlining next steps, most notably, the design of a two-phase training programme:
- Training of trainers, aimed at building the capacity of local agricultural engineers and researchers
- Hands-on training for technicians, machine operators, and workers on the use of advanced mechanization technologies
This initiative reflects the EU-KAFI Programme’s broader objectives to enhance wheat productivity, reduce post-harvest losses, and foster knowledge exchange between Egyptian and Italian agricultural institutions in support of a more resilient and modernized food system in Egypt.
