(Marketing Pathways for the Garlic Crop in Sohag Governorate)

The agricultural sector is considered one of the most important productive sectors participating in achieving economic development in general and agricultural development in particular, as work is being done to build the foundations of the economic structure under an integrated system of laws, legislation and some procedures that depend on agricultural development programs on both their vertical and horizontal axes, and despite these efforts However, achieving such development still requires a great effort to face the various possible economic changes. The growth of agricultural production has long been characterized by relative stagnation in Egypt due to the narrow agricultural area on the one hand, and the limited agricultural expansion into new lands on the other hand (due to the many problems facing such a policy, whether technical, administrative, or financing). Also, the presence of some problems in irrigation and drainage systems in agricultural lands has led to the deterioration of the productive qualities of many agricultural lands. Hence, the decline in the productive efficiency of using agricultural resources (in light of the rise in the prices of many agricultural resources as a result of the implementation of the policy of eliminating subsidies adopted by the state since the mid-eighties of the last century), which resulted in the existence of price imbalances, whether in the resource market and/or the market. Agricultural products. Vegetable crops in general, and garlic in particular, are considered among the most important and necessary food crops for humans in all countries of the world, as they are considered an important source of a group of essential elements for the body such as potassium, phosphorus, calcium, manganese, iodine, zinc, cobalt, iron and copper in a form suitable for human nutrition in addition to their content of compounds. Vitality and vitamins. Garlic is considered a winter vegetable crop that is grown during the months of September and October each year. (Either alone or attached to other crops) for the purpose of local consumption or export. Garlic also has many food and medicinal uses in its fresh and dried forms.    The garlic crop is considered one of the most important strategic and export crops, whether for the Arab or European markets, as it is exported in both fresh and dried forms. Garlic is always exported during the months of April and May of each year when the markets are devoid of commercial competition for it, which achieves the highest prices. The average quantity exported from it reached about 15 thousand tons during the period (2006-2022), with a value of about 15 million dollars during the average period of the same period.