An expected rise in the price of wheat and a huge increase in the number of Ramadan soaps spark a lively domestic debate. Regionally, just as US troops prepare to withdraw from Iraq, war drums are being beaten in Lebanon. Doaa El-Bey and Mohamed El-Sayed visit the newsstands While preparations for the holy month of Ramadan were in full swing this week, the sudden but expected rise in the price of wheat represented a real challenge to the government. Newspapers were keen to emphasise that a possible shortage in wheat would not have an immediate effect especially in Ramadan. Nobody mentioned the long-term effect. Al-Akhbar 's banner read 'Strategic stock of wheat is enough for four months', and Al-Ahram 's said 'Strategic stock of wheat is secure, various sources for importing it'. Nahdet Masr quoted the minister of social solidarity as saying 'The wheat crisis will not affect the supply of bread in Ramadan', while Al-Wafd read, 'Wheat shippings will arrive to Egypt in 15 days after Egypt was excepted from the Russian ban on wheat export'. Abbas El-Tarabili wrote that there is a disaster awaiting us: the price of wheat will rise by at least 50 per cent because the most important three countries exporting wheat -- the Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Russia -- are suffering from natural disasters. The first two countries are suffering from a severe drought that hit their main crop of wheat, while Russia suffered from a season of heavy rain that destroyed most of the lands planted with wheat. These countries which are the largest exporters of wheat to Egypt and other Middle East countries decided to stop exporting wheat to meet the needs of the local market. The crisis raises the eternal issue of food in Egypt, El-Tarabili wrote in the daily Al-Wafd, the mouthpiece of the opposition Wafd Party. Should we cultivate the land with wheat to provide bread for Egyptians... or cultivate it with clover to provide them with milk, cheese and meat? The tragedy is that we neither planted enough wheat to cover our needs nor provided enough milk, cheese and meat at affordable prices. In the past, the government was reluctant to buy the wheat produced by Egyptian farmers. Now the government will chase Egyptian farmers to buy their wheat at any price, which is a golden opportunity for them to force the government to buy with the price they fix. Certainly the world will face a global wheat crisis this year and in the next few years, so how will Egypt deal with the challenge, El-Tarabili asked. Before us is the rice crisis because of the irrigation problems, and behind us there is the wheat crisis. "Here I suggest an idea I read about 30 years ago that Japan cultivate rice with the ocean's water." So, he called the minister of agriculture to open a file on cultivating rice with sea water and to send officials to Japan to learn how to apply the idea. "That way, we may use the Nile water to irrigate wheat fields, thus, killing two birds with one stone." Nearly all the Arab states agreed to start fasting yesterday (11 August). The editorial of the official daily Al--Ahram hailed the agreement on the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan. In previous years, they used to start the holy month on different days which tarnished the image of the Islamic nation. Whoever observes the intensive preparations made by the government to provide food supplies in Ramadan, the editorial added, imagines that we are ordered to increase our consumption of food rather than fast during Ramadan. Thus public consumption dramatically rises in Ramadan, becoming a heavy burden on the national economy and increases the volume of import from abroad. It also poses a huge financial burden on the average citizen and forces him sometimes to borrow to be able to buy the goods he wants, and satisfy the consumption culture which now controls our behaviour in Ramadan. The consumption culture in Ramadan is not only in consuming more food, but also in wasting time and forgetting that Ramadan is the month of worship and virtue. It should not be the time for amusement and spending time in matters that distort the minds of our nation. "Ramadan was always the month of victories, and it will remain the gateway to improve our reality and build our future," the edit added. Mohamed Sultan wrote that Ramadan has come with about 120 Egyptian and Arab TV series which need 2,500 watching hours. That's in addition to the TV programmes which need almost half this time. All will be broadcast on terrestrial and satellite channels during the 30 days and nights of Ramadan. To follow all the soap operas and shows shown in Ramadan we need 83 hours a day although the day is only 24. More important, the cost of such soap operas exceeds LE3 billion that was spent by the producers to satisfy viewers and therefore satisfy advertising companies which stand to make huge profits. Isn't it high time, Sultan asked in the official daily Al-Akhbar, to come up with viewing seasons at other times of the year, which would spread TV shows throughout the year, save viewers from all this amount of watching in Ramadan and leave them some time to pray during the holy month. Sherif Riad touched upon the same problem, writing that each year, we raise the issue of the huge numbers of TV shows that surround Muslims in Ramadan which do not give them the opportunity to pray or read the Quran. However, no one responds because the sound of money is always louder, as the profits these TV shows make from advertisements render all critique into mere smoke in the air. The unified call for prayer which began in Greater Cairo yesterday was welcomed by some writers. Suleiman Gouda hailed the minister of endowment's decision to unify the call for prayer in all mosques in Cairo by the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan. That step should have been taken a long time ago, but the government was reluctant to take it for no apparent reason, Gouda wrote in the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Yom. However, the writer expressed his wish that the government would follow the same policy regarding Friday sermons. It is not acceptable or required to unify Friday sermons, but the issues to be discussed during these sermons in mosques throughout Egypt should be clearly outlined because it has a great influence on the millions of people who flock to the mosques every Friday. Many countries, including Syria, Gouda added, realised the importance of the Friday sermon and used it to spread awareness among people regarding certain issues, succeeding to a great extent. "Friday sermon should abide by the spirit, culture and tolerance of Islam. Unifying the call for prayer aims to combat noise pollution. However, confronting polluting minds is a more pressing demand."
