Agriculture & Water

Saudi Arabia’s agricultural development over the last three decades has been astonishing.
Large areas of desert have been turned into agricultural fields – a major accomplishment in
a country that receives an average of about four inches of rain a year, one of the lowest
rates in the world.

Today, Saudi Arabia exports wheat, dates, dairy products, eggs, fish, poultry, fruits,
vegetables, and flowers to markets around the world. Dates, once a staple of the Saudi diet,
are now mainly grown for global humanitarian aid.

The Ministry of Agriculture is primarily responsible for agricultural policy. Other
government
agencies include the Saudi Arabian Agricultural Bank (SAAB), which disburses subsidies and
grants interest-free loans; and the Grain Silos and Flour mills Organization, which
purchases
and stores wheat, construct flour mills, and produces animal feed. The government also
offers
land distribution and reclamation programs and funds research projects.

The private sector has played a major role in the Kingdom’s agricultural development. This
is
mostly due to government programs that offered long-term, interest-free loans, technical and
support services, and incentives such as free seeds and fertilizers, low-cost water, fuel
and
electricity, and duty-free imports of raw materials and machinery.

Historically, agriculture in the Arabian Peninsula was limited mostly to date farming and
small-scale vegetable production in widely scattered oases, except in a small coastal strip
in
the southwest. Small plots produced enough food for the local communities, and any extra was
sold to passing caravans.

Serious agricultural development began in the Kingdom’s agricultural development. This is
mostly
due to government programs that offered long-term, interest-free loans, technical and
support
services, and incentives such as free seeds and fertilizers, low-cost water, fuel and
electricity, and duty-free imports of raw materials and machinery.
Historically, agriculture in the Arabian Peninsula was limited mostly to date farming and
small-scale vegetable production in widely scattered oases, except in a small coastal strip
in
the southwest. Small plots produced enough food for the local communities, and any extra was
sold to passing caravans.

Serious agricultural development began in the 1970s. The government launched an extensive
program to promote modern farming technology; establish rural roads, irrigation networks,
and
storage and export facilities; and encourage agricultural research and training
institutions.
As a result, there has been a phenomenal growth in the production of all basic foods. Saudi
Arabia is now completely self-sufficient in a number of foodstuffs, including meat, milk,
and
eggs..

Water, of course, is the key to agriculture in Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom has successfully
implemented a multifaceted program to provide the vast supplies of water necessary to
achieve
the tremendous growth of the agricultural sector.
A network of dams has been built to trap and utilize precious seasonal floods. Vast
underground
water reservoirs have been tapped through deep wells. Desalination plants have been built to
produce fresh water from the sea for urban and industrial use, thus freeing other sources
for
agriculture. Facilities have also been put into place to treat urban and industrial runoff
for
agricultural irrigation.

These efforts collectively have helped transform vast tracts of the desert into fertile
farmland. Land under cultivation, less than 400,000 acres in 1976, reached millions of acres
by the 21st century.

Agricultural Achievements

The 1970s marked the beginning of serious agricultural development in the Kingdom. The
government launched an extensive program to promote modern farming technology; establish
rural
roads, irrigation networks, and storage and export facilities; and encourage agricultural
research and training institutions.

The result has been a phenomenal growth in the production of all basic foods. With
substantial
amounts of meat, milk, and eggs, Saudi Arabia is now completely self-sufficient in a number
of
foodstuffs.

The increased food production brought about a proportional decline in food imports; and in
fact,
Saudi Arabia now exports wheat, dates, dairy products, eggs, fish, poultry, vegetables, and
flowers to markets around the world.

Intensive dairy, meat, poultry, and egg farming were all introduced early in the program,
and
already by 1985, local farms were satisfying domestic demand for many products previously
imported. The Kingdom now has some of the most modern and largest dairy farms in the Middle
East. Milk production boasts a remarkably productive annual rate of 1,800 gallons per cow,
one
of the highest in the world.

While fish production through traditional off-shore fishing has been constantly on the
increase,
the Kingdom is exploring ways of further increasing its catch and encouraging greater
private
investment
One of the new areas in which the private sector is investing with government support is
aquaculture. The number of fish farms, either using pens in the sea or tanks onshore, has
been
increasing steadily. Most are located along Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast. Shrimp farming has
been particularly successful. The National Shrimp Company ‘Al-Rubian’, for example, has a
farm
south of Jeddah managed by Saudi hydro-biologists and marine engineers, whose shrimp,
including
the preferred black tiger, is exported mainly to the United States and to Japan.

The Kingdom’s most dramatic agricultural accomplishment, noted worldwide, was its rapid
transformation from importer to exporter of wheat. In 1978, the country built its first
grain
silos. By 1984, it had become self-sufficient in wheat. Shortly thereafter, Saudi Arabia
began
exporting wheat to some thirty countries, including China and the former Soviet Union, and
in
the major producing areas of Tabuk, Hail, and Qasim, average yields reached 3.6 tons per
acre.
In addition, Saudi farmers grow substantial amounts of other grains such as barley, sorghum,
and
millet. Today, in the interest of preserving precious water resources, the production of
wheat
and other grains has been considerably reduced.

The Kingdom has, however, stepped up fruit and vegetable production, by improving both
agricultural techniques and the roads that link farmers with urban consumers. Saudi Arabia
is a
major exporter of fruits and vegetables to its neighbors. Among its most productive crops
are
watermelon, grapes, citrus fruits, onions, squash, and tomatoes. At Jizan in the country’s
well-watered southwest, the Al-Hikmah Research Station is producing tropical fruits
including
pineapples, paw-paws, bananas, mangoes, and guavas.

This agricultural transformation has altered the country’s traditional diet, supplying a
diversity of local foods unimaginable a few generations ago. Dates are no longer the vital
staple for Saudi Arabians that they were in the past, although they still constitute an
important supplementary food. Much of the annual production of dates, estimated at around
half a
million tons and comprising some 450 different kinds, is used as international humanitarian
aid.
Several factories, including one in Al-Hasa, are dedicated entirely to the production of
dates
for foreign aid and donate tens of thousands of tons of dates each year to relieve famine
and
food shortages, mainly through the World Food Program (WFP) of the United Nations’ Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO). Many countries have directly benefited from Saudi Arabia’s
food
aid offered through the WFP, and the Kingdom is second only to the United States in
contributions to the program.

Government Programs

The progress made by the Saudi Arabian agricultural sector in recent years has been largely
due
to an array of government programs, including the provision of soft, interest-free loans and
technical and support services.

The agriculture sector has also benefited from low-cost water, fuel and electricity, and
duty-free imports of raw materials and machinery. Foreign joint-venture partners of Saudi
individuals or companies are exempt from paying taxes for a period of up to 10 years, and
the
investment regulations in effect since April 2000 offer further incentives.

The primary agency responsible for implementing agricultural policy is the Ministry of
Agriculture, which provides research and extension assistance to farmers. Another supporting
agency is the Saudi Arabian Agricultural Bank (SAAB), which disburses subsidies and grants
interest-free loans. The Grain Silos and Flour Mills Organization was established in 1972 to
purchase and store wheat, construct flour mills and produce animal feed to support the
nationwide growth of agriculture.

To encourage private investment in the agricultural sector, Saudi Arabia has allocated
substantial financial resources for improving roads linking producing areas with consumer
markets.

In addition, the land distribution and reclamation program, which was introduced in 1968,
aims
at distributing fallow land free of charge, mostly in small plots, as a means of increasing
the
area under cultivation and encouraging crop and livestock production. The beneficiaries are
required to develop a minimum of one-quarter of the land surface within two to five years.
Upon
compliance, full ownership of the land is transferred to the farmer.

Under the Development Plans, the government continues to assist new farmers in implementing
capital-intensive projects with special emphasis on diversification and greater efficiency.
To raise farm productivity, the government also funds and supports research projects aimed
at
producing new food crops to increase harvest and develop plant strains with greater
resistance
to pests. These programs are conducted in cooperation between local farmers and scientists
at
agricultural research facilities at Saudi Arabian universities and colleges.

Water Resources
Saudi Arabia is a desert country with no permanent rivers or lakes and very little rainfall.
Water is scarce and extremely valuable, and with the country’s rapid growth, the demand for
water is increasing.

The Kingdom, therefore, has turned to innovative ways to provide enough water to support its
development. All water matters are handled by the Ministry of Water and Electricity.
Aquifers are a major source of water in Saudi Arabia. They are vast underground reservoirs
of
water. In the 1970s, the government undertook a major effort to locate and map such aquifers
and
estimate their capacity. As a result, it was able to drill tens of thousands of deep tube
wells
in the most promising areas for both urban and agricultural use.
Another major source of water is the sea. This is done through desalination, a process that
produces potable water from brackish seawater. Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest producer
of
desalinated water.

The Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) operates 27 desalination stations that
produce
more than three million cubic meters a day of potable water. These plants provide more than
70
percent of the water used in cities, as well as a sizeable portion of the needs of industry.
They are also a major source of electric power generation.

Dams are used to capture surface water after frequent flash floods. More than 200 dams
collect
an estimated 16 billion cubic feet of runoff annually in their reservoirs. Some of the
largest
of these dams are located in the Wadi Jizan, Wadi Fatima, Wadi Bisha, and Najran. This water
is
used primarily for agriculture and is distributed through thousands of miles of irrigation
canals and ditches to vast tracts of fertile land that were previously fallow.
An expanding source of water is the use of recycled water. The Kingdom aims to recycle as
much
as 40 percent of the water used for domestic purposes in urban areas. To this end, recycling
plants have been built in Riyadh, Jeddah, and other major urban industrial centers. Recycled
water is used for irrigation of farm fields and urban parks.