An Analytical Economic Study of the Production and Consumption of Nitrogen Fertilizers in Egypt

Egypt is considered one of the countries producing chemical fertilizers, as it has many companies that produce nitrogen, phosphate fertilizers, and it also imports potash fertilizers, and some nitrogenous fertilizers with the aim of filling the deficit in local production, although this varies from year to year, the excessive use of chemical fertilizers leads to a disturbance of the salt balance of the soil, the problem of the study is represented in the high rates of consumption of chemical fertilizers of various types in general and nitrogen fertilizers in particular, after the expansion of land reclamation and cultivation projects. The results of the demand function equation for nitrogenous fertilizers indicate signals, values, and results that are very consistent with the economic logic, as the significance of the model used was proven, and the coefficient of determination reached about 0.81, which means that the independent variables included in the estimated demand function explain about 81% of the factors affecting the local demand for nitrogenous chemical fertilizers during the period (2000-2021). Regarding the effect of the price of a ton of nitrate fertilizer, the sign was negative, and the regression coefficient was about 0.23, which means that an increase estimated at one pound in the price of a ton of nitrogenous fertilizer leads to a decrease in the consumption of an acre by 0.23 tons annually, and the price elasticity reached -0.08, which means that an increase of 1% in prices led to a decrease in the consumption of an acre of nitrate fertilizer by 8%, which means the importance of fertilizer nitrate for Egyptian agriculture, and then the difficulty of abandoning it despite its high prices.