THE TRADE BALANCE OF VIRTUAL WATER FOR THE MOST IMPORTANT EGYPTIAN AGRICULTURAL CROPS

Water needs have increased dramatically, with the fixed quantity of the main water resource in Egypt at 55.5 billion m3, represented by the Nile River, where the amount of water needs amounted to about 76.25 billion m3, with a deficit of about 20.75 billion m3, this deficit is met by other sources. However, with the increasing demand for water for use in various sectors, increasing water supply from these sources will become insufficient to solve the problem of the gap between supply and demand for water5 Water resources management has thus become the ideal solution for managing water demand. One of the most important tools used in demand management is the concept of virtual water. The research aims to “analyze the impact of virtual water on the Egyptian agricultural trade balance”, by calculating the volume of trade exchange from virtual water of exported and imported agricultural crops in the Egyptian agricultural trade balance. And estimate its water footprint. The results shows that The average of dependence on external water imports and the self-sufficiency ratio of domestic water resources indicators during the average period 2010 - 2017 were about 68.93%, 31.07% for crops with low content of virtual water. And about 94.23%, 5.77% for crops with medium content of virtual water. And 48.63%, 51.37 for crops with high content of virtual water. And 71.60%, 28.40% for total crops.