黑料社区

Saudi pursuit of 鈥榞reen Kingdom鈥 goal gets a boost

Special Saudi pursuit of 鈥榞reen Kingdom鈥 goal gets a boost
One of the goals of the International Centre for Biosaline Agriculture is to build sustainable networks and unleash the entrepreneurial potential of farming communities living in the marginal environments of UAE and Egypt. (ICBA photo)
Updated 19 November 2019

Saudi pursuit of 鈥榞reen Kingdom鈥 goal gets a boost

Saudi pursuit of 鈥榞reen Kingdom鈥 goal gets a boost
  • Agreement between agriculture ministry and Dubai's ICBA aimed at conserving natural resources
  • Kingdom's biosaline agriculture research and systems stands to benefit from ICBA's expertise

DUBAI: Agricultural development and environmental sustainability in 黑料社区 will receive a boost in the coming years, thanks to a new agreement between the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) in Dubai and the Saudi Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture.

The agreement aims to enable 黑料社区 to achieve its goal of preservation and sustainable management of its natural resources by raising the quality of biosaline agriculture research and systems.

The ministry says that the agreement will make use of the ICBA鈥檚 expertise in capacity development besides agricultural and environmental research, especially in the fields of vegetation development, combating desertification and climate change adaptation.

鈥淚t also includes training programs for Saudi technicians and farmers,鈥 the ministry said. 鈥淚n addition, it will localize, implement and develop biosaline agriculture research and production systems for both crops and forestation, which contributes to environmental and agricultural integration.鈥

Dr. Ismahane Elouafi, the ICBA鈥檚 director general, told Arab News: 鈥淭he agreement had been in the making for about two years. That was when we were approached by the Saudi government.鈥




Dr. Ismahane Elouafi, ICBA Director General, at the center's quinoa fields in Dubai. (Supplied photo)

She said: 鈥淲e put forward a proposal to demonstrate how the ICBA can help the Saudi government to implement its Green Kingdom Initiative, through which the ministry is trying to restore green coverage in the country and revive old conservation practices.鈥

Geographical features and climatic conditions very greatly from one part of the country to the other.

In the past, experimentation with such crops as potatoes, wheat and alfalfa proved detrimental to the Kingdom鈥檚 environment and natural resources due to faster rates of groundwater withdrawal.

鈥淭he ministry wanted to put a halt to over-abstraction of water, so they went through different policies,鈥 Elouafi said.

鈥淭hey made sure, for example, that farmers stopped producing wheat because about 2,400 liters of water is consumed to produce 1 kg of wheat. It was a huge amount,鈥 she added.

鈥淭he new strategy is to find more appropriate crops for the farming community, which is quite large in the Kingdom.鈥

黑料社区 has been trying to grow its own food on a large scale since the 1980s.听

The objective of the Green Kingdom Initiative is to reduce the agricultural sector鈥檚 water demand by finding alternatives to thirsty crops.

The agreement will require the ICBA, over the next five years, to build for 黑料社区 a new biosaline agriculture sector.听

As part of this shift, cultivation of a number of crops, notably quinoa, pearl millet and sorghum, will be piloted in high-salinity regions and then scaled up.

鈥淭he crops did very well in the UAE,鈥 Elouafi said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e looking at Sabkha regions, which have very high salinity and wetlands, and are on the ministry鈥檚 environmental agenda.鈥

Another objective is 鈥渟mart鈥 agriculture, which will involve raising water productivity, controlling irrigation water consumption and changing farming behavior.

Elouafi said that getting farmers in the Kingdom to stop cultivating wheat took some time as they had become accustomed to heavy government subsidies. In 2015, wheat production was phased out, followed by potatoes a year later and then alfalfa.听

鈥淔armers were provided everything to the point where they got used to a very good income and a very easy system,鈥 she said.

鈥淣ow farmers are being asked to start producing something else, but the income won鈥檛 be the same, so it鈥檚 very important at this stage that the ministry has a plan and it鈥檚 fully understood.鈥

The agreement envisages preparation of proposals for ministry projects that involve plant production, drought monitoring, development of promising local crop and forestation varieties, and conservation of plant genetic resources.

鈥淲e鈥檙e also discussing capacity building because the ministry is big and has many entities. Because 黑料社区 is a large country and has the capacity to meet some of its food requirements internally, what鈥檚 required is a better understanding of the country鈥檚 natural capabilities in terms of production of the crops it needs, like certain cereals,鈥 Elouafi said.

鈥淭he way the authorities are going about it right now is more organized and more holistic. They鈥檙e trying to plan it properly.鈥

Elouafi said that having a better understanding of 黑料社区鈥檚 water constraints and managing the precious resource is essential.

Although almost the entire country is arid, there is rainfall in the north and along the mountain range to the west, especially in the far southwest, which receives monsoon rains in summer.

Sporadic rain may also occur elsewhere. Sometimes it is very heavy, causing serious flooding, including in Riyadh.

鈥淭hey (the government) are very interested in drought management systems. The Kingdom has a long history of agriculture,鈥 Elouafi said.

鈥淚t has large quantities of water in terms of rainfall, and certain regions have mountainous conditions, which are conducive to agriculture.鈥

Clearly, preservation of water resources is a priority for the Saudi government. But no less urgent is the task of conversion of green waste to improve soil quality, increase soil productivity and water retention, and reduce demand for irrigation.

The Kingdom is one of at least three Gulf Cooperation Council countries that are taking steps to develop a regulatory framework for the recycling of waste into compost.

黑料社区, the UAE and Oman are respectively aiming to recycle 85 percent, 75 percent and 60 percent of their municipal solid waste over the next decade, according to a report by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) entitled 鈥淕lobal Food Trends to 2030.鈥

黑料社区 and the UAE rank in the bottom quartile of the 34 countries covered by the EIU鈥檚 Food Sustainability Index, with low scores for nutrition and food loss and waste.听

The answer, according to many farmers, policymakers and food-industry experts, is a shift toward more sustainable management of each country鈥檚 natural resources.