Egypt expects to grow about 8 million tonnes of wheat this year, the state news agency Mena said on Saturday, quoting agriculture minister Amin Abaza.

The harvest would compare to 7.39 million tonnes in the 2007 season.  Abaza said farmers had planted 2.7 million acres with wheat this year, the same as last year.

He said the government was intent on increasing yields and cutting down on wastage, which cuts output by 15 per cent.  The government has promised a sharp increase in the price it offers farmers for their wheat this harvest, which runs from April and ends in the summer.

In mid-February, it said it would pay at least 320 Egyptian pounds ($58.50) for an ardebb of 150 kg, the equivalent of $390 a tonne. Mena said the producer price would depend on world prices and could be as high as 450 pounds an ardebb.

Abaza said the government wanted the country to produce 65 per cent of the wheat it consumes. The current proportion is about 50 per cent, making Egypt one of the world's biggest wheat importers.

The government alone imports 6 million tonnes a year to make subsidised bread, mainly for the urban poor.-Reuters