The Saudi leadership has consistently promoted progress in the Kingdom’s agriculture sector. Saudi agriculture policy aims to encourage and support farmers by providing soft and interest-free loans, distributing farm land, and purchasing products from farmers at subsidised prices.
In spite of the scarcity of water in the Kingdom, Saudi Arabia has succeeded in accomplishing broad agricultural development aimed at achieving a balance between water and food security.
Production of food grains declined from 4.86 million to 2.592 million during the period from 1994 to 2003 in favour of an increase in production of vegetables and fruits. The area allocated for the production of vegetables now amounts to over 114 hectares, and that for fruits totals 198 hectares. Approximately 2,200 million tons of fresh vegetables and 1,333 million tons of fruits were produced last year.
The Kingdom produced 468,000 tons of chicken, 2,498 million eggs, 333,000 cows, 16,824 million sheep and 824,000 camels last year.
During the past year, 11,000 fishing boats, with manpower of 25,000, were deployed in the field of fisheries.
Source: SPA
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