Egyptian Sudan 116 The basin irrigation system with a single annual crop is applied, and the rest is irrigated in the summer and generally produces two crops a year. From the above, it is clear that the area of available land for cultivation is 300,000 feddans. However, it is not expected that more than 71,000 feddans will be allocated for cultivation, as certain areas (about 200,000 feddans) in the Lake region in Lower Egypt must be allocated for fish farming. Thus, the maximum that can be increased in the area for cultivation in Egypt is estimated at about 1,900,000 feddans, while in addition to what has been mentioned, there are at the same time 1,200,000 feddans that must be considered as converted from the basin irrigation system to the summer irrigation system. Water requirements for Egypt The second step in solving the problem is to calculate the amount of water consumed by the current areas each year. This will allow us to estimate future needs. In all past eras until not long ago, the irregularity in the flow of the Nile flood caused successive famines and dry years in Egypt. When the flood was scarce, there was a shortage in the crop, but this shortage was not due to a lack of the required amount of water in the river, but rather because the water level was not high enough to cause it to overflow on both sides of the river, or more precisely, to facilitate its entry into the canals feeding the basin areas. The first method adopted to overcome this obstacle was to extend the canals and raise their intake points on the river higher than they were before. A significant change occurred in the early years of the last century when Muhammad Ali Pasha introduced the system of improving Lower Egypt from basin irrigation to summer irrigation. With this, it became almost possible in the areas where this system was applied.