Egypt's rice farmers see rough times downstream of new Nile mega-dam


FILE PHOTO - Labourers transplant rice seedlings in a paddy field in Qalyub, in the El-Kalubia governorate, northeast of Cairo, Egypt June 1, 2016. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

KAFR ZIADA, Egypt/DUBAI (Reuters) - Rice farmers in Kafr Ziada village in the Nile River Delta have ignored planting restrictions aimed at conserving water for years, continuing to grow a medium-grain variety of the crop that is prized around the Arab world.

A decision thousands of kilometres to the south is about to change that, however, in another example of how concern about water, one of the world's most valuable commodities, is forcing change in farming, laws and even international diplomacy.

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