CAIRO, Jan 4 (Aswat Masriya) – Egypt will not be subsidising next season's cotton produce, the minister of agriculture said on Sunday.

Agriculture Minister Adel el-Beltagy urged Egyptian farmers interested in cultivating cotton, whether long staple or short staple cotton, to "ensure it is [properly] marketed before cultivating it," reported state news agency MENA.

"Cultivating Egyptian cotton, especially long staple cotton, is highly costly," Beltagy reportedly told a press conference, adding that international and local markets are no longer interested in its purchase.

The minister reportedly owed the decline in Egyptian cotton's worldwide consumption to the development of the short staple cotton industry, which is cheaper than Egyptian cotton.

Egypt has long been famous for its unique long staple cotton, especially under the British colonial rule.

According to data provided by the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS), Egypt's cotton export during the second quarter of 2014 declined by 69.7 percent from the same period of time in 2013, standing at 106.5 thousand metric quintals.

Local cotton's consumption also dropped by 68.4 percent between March and May 2014, CAPMAS reported.

The administration of Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has largely focused on fixing Egypt's battered economy, which has been suffering badly due to four years of political turmoil since an uprising toppled former President Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

Egypt's government has already reduced petroleum subsidies and introduced new taxes in July, hiking fuel prices by up to 78 percent. The decrease in subsidies came among a string of austerity measures introduced by Sisi's administration since his accession to power last June.