In these two countries, which are net importers of wheat, prices of wheat products were at elevated levels in January mostly due to weaker currencies and higher international quotations from the European countries, the key suppliers.
Vito Martielli, senior grains and oilseeds analyst at Rabobank, says that this is not a huge concern, given that the EU is a net exporter of wheat and that some of the wheat producing countries have not reached their full potential yet.
Syria, once the bread basket of the Roman Empire, has been a net importer of wheat for 30 years.
Egypt is the world's biggest net importer of wheat, and a major importer of tea and sugar.
No net change in wheat grain yield was observed, and farmers who participated in the experiments were satisfied with the results and the easy application of the technique.
"For the first time in two decades, Syria has moved from being a net exporter of wheat to a net importer," said a February report by the U.S. State Department, which added that agriculture accounted for about 17 percent of 2008 G.D.P.
A run of poor weather since 2011 has led to extensive flooding of properties but has also severely dented the production of many foods, with the UK now being a net importer of wheat.
She said the UK was normally a net exporter of wheat but "last summer was very wet and very cold, leading to 13% lower yield or more than 2m tonnes down on the previous year".
