摘要
Sugar cane is a principal agricultural product in Egypt. Over 48% of its area is grown in Qena governorate. The agricultural extension system should identify problems and needs for farmers and provide them with their solutions. The main objective of this paper was to know production and marketing problems for sugar cane growers in Qena govemorate, Egypt. Six focus groups were organized for farmers in two villages and a survey was conducted on 224 extension personnel or 93 % of all extension personnel at districts and villages levels in Qena govemorate to collect necessary data. The most important perceived production problems were： spread of weeds and insects, weak role of agricultural extension, shortage and high costs of fertilizers and labor, and high costs of production, insecticides and irrigation. The most important perceived marketing problems were： high costs and unsystematic cutting, shortage and high costs of transportation, delay of cutting and delivery of product to the factory, inaccurate weigh and low prices of the product. A great role lies on the agricultural extension system to identify such problems and provide farmers with their solutions in order to increase the agricultural productivity of this crop in Qena govemorate.
