Ahmed al-Gizawi, the newly-appointed minister of agriculture, said that the wheat issue will be one of the ministry's top priorities during the coming phase, the state news agency MENA reported on Tuesday.

Egypt is the biggest wheat importer worldwide.

Developing grain production will also be part of the ministry's priorities in order to close the food gap, the minister said.

The ministry will depend on an agricultural development strategy that will continue until 2030.

The strategy was prepared by the ministry in cooperation with experts at the Agricultural Research Center and the Desert Research Center as well as professors of agriculture.

Al-Gizawi took the oath of office on Tuesday before President Mohamed Mursi as part of a ministerial reshuffle.

He was Dean of Ain Shams University's Faculty of Agriculture from 2007 to 2008.

Egypt aims at increasing its wheat production in 2013 by ten percent as wheat is part of its food security.

The country imports around ten million tons of wheat annually which constitute almost half of its needs.

Two years of political and economic instability after toppling former president Hosni Mubarak have taken their toll on Egypt's foreign reserves, putting into question the country’s ability to secure its needs through open biddings.