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Abdelkhaleq took to the local mosque’s loudspeaker last month to say the government was doubling the fine for unauthorized rice cultivation to 7,600 pounds per feddan.

The 1.5 Million Feddan Project, announced in December 2015 by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, will instead rely mostly on groundwater extraction.

Part of the 1.5 Million Feddan Project will involve the construction of greenhouses on 42,000 ha of desert.

Siam is unconvinced of the food-security benefits of the 1.5 Million Feddan Project.

The technology can be fitted to a regular tractor, and prepares and sows one feddan in 30 minutes, saving farmers both time and the cost of hiring labourers.