Agriculture in Saudi Arabia

Agriculture production in Saudi Arabia includes nomadic agriculture, settled faming, fishing, range resource and forestry.

The percentage of the labor force engaged in agriculture is smaller in Saudi Arabia than in many developing countries.

During the 1970s and 1980s, the government undertook a massive restructuring of the agriculture sector. The stated objectives were food security though self sufficiency and improvement of rural incomes.

Saudi Arabia agriculture is characterized by small farms operated by the owner or by tenant farms. Three fourths of the cultivated land in Saudi Arabia is in the southwest which receives sufficient rainfall to support faming operations.

The remainder of the Kingdom’s cultivated land is scattered over the country near oasis, towns, and the wadis which drain mountain areas.

Saudi Arabia pay massive subsidies for advanced modern farms at a time when most Bedouin and rural famers were finding other form of work.

In 1984, Saudi Arabia it had become sufficient in wheat but this did not stop them the expansion of production.

Saudi Arabia has imported no wheat since 1985 and is also self sufficient in potatoes, fresh milk, eggs, watermelon and dates.

Water is not a problem. The farm, which sits on the kingdom’s untapped reservoirs of oil, also has a huge underground lake.

Government is encouraged the excessive use of water by providing virtually free deep wells and low cost diesel fuel for pumps.

However, Saudi dependence on food imports has continued to rise due to the steady increase in population and a shift toward a more varied diet.
Agriculture in Saudi Arabia