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Introduction

Saudi Arabia is a vast country of thirteen Provinces (Fig. 1) with an area of 1.45 million km2 and accounts for 1.5 % of the worlds land mass. Although data is available regarding oil production in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, only limited information is available concerning environmental and agricultural conditions in the region ( Van-Ollenbach, 1978; Anderson, 1986). Intense summer temperatures and lack of water make it one of the world’s least hospitable plant environments. Soils throughout the Kingdom vary considerably ranging from coarse, medium and fine sands, gravel formations, sandy/clay loams and sandy loams (Van-Ollenbach, 1978), several of these soil types can even be found within the boundary of a single farm.

In general, rainfall for direct agricultural use is largely insufficient (Fig. 2), and irrigation water has to be pumped from underground acquifers, the exception being the south-western Saudi Arabia, around Jizan, which receives considerable natural rainfall, where the Al Hakmah research station dam - irrigated fields produced tropical fruits such as bananas, guavas, mangoes, pineapples and pawpaws (Anderson, 1986), Some acquifers are near the surface while the majority require heavy pumping equipment to extract the groundwater and is a few cases where the water has to go through heat exchangers prior to use as temperature in excess of 60 °C have been known. The exhaustible supply of groundwater and costly desalinated sea water are the main sources of water utilised in the Kingdom for all uses (agricultural, industrial, domestic and municipal). In Saudi Arabia, the agricultural sector accounts for more than 80% of the nations total water consumption (Al-Ghobari, 2000). As conservation of water has become one of the prime objectives, treated sewerage water has been used for some agricultural purposes.


The Race for Food Security

Prior to the 1980’s the country was highly dependent upon food imports. However the recent objective for increasing agricultural production was an attempt to reduce dependence on imported food and led to the establishment of several major agricultural projects [Ha`il, Tabouk, Al-Jouf and Al Gassim Agricultural Development Companies and the United Dairy Farms Company (Al-Mutahida)]. Traditional flood irrigation, wasted precious water supplies and increased soil salinity and has been replaced by modern pivot-centred irrigation systems (fields a kilometre in diameter). These have proved most successful for large-scale commercial farming, and have become commonsight where water is available.


Over the past two decades the Kingdom has experienced an agricultural revolution, achieving food security for Saudi citizens. The Saudi Government has:-

  1. distributed land free of charge to wheat producers
  2. provided interest-free loans, grants and subsidies and
  3. encouraged the adoption of modern production techniques.

Today the Kingdom produces more than twice its domestic need for wheat and exports to other Gulf Co-operation Council states. However, the large-scale cultivation of cereals is considered controversial in Saudi Arabia, although providing food security, it can only be grown at relatively high cost.

Problems Encountered

  1. Salinity

    Accumulation of salts in soil is one of the major permanent problems. Even at Ha’il Agricultural Development Company (HADCO) (Fig. 3) a large area of the Eastern Project (over 5,000 ha) had to be turned over to barley production due to relatively high water and subsequent soil salinity levels.


  2. Extreme temperature and environmental conditions

    - present irrigation practices provide ideal conditions for excessive leaching.


  3. Natural low nutrient soils

    (Shehata & Amin, 1997).


  4. Leaching of nutrients

    - present irrigation practices provide ideal conditions for excessive leaching.


  5. Land subsidence

    Land subsidence and ground fissures have been reported in several areas of Saudi Arabia. Under arid desert conditions the shortage of groundwater resources and the excessive pumping can cause a significant decline in freshwater levels. This may lead to an increase in soil salinity, a decrease in soil fertility, with the result of increasing the prospect of desertification. The ground subsidence, ground fissures and surface faults and damage to buildings in Tabah village in Ha’il Province have been directly associated with the excessive pumping of groundwater.


  6. High arsenic concentration in ground water.

  7. Little published information. particularly in refereed journals.

In addition the production of wheat and vast areas of concentrated agricultural development has brought about radical changes in the local ecological, environmental and climatic conditions.

This artificial change to the environment is likely to favour many of the serious diseases that attack cereals. Cultivation of imported high yielding varieties significantly increased production levels, however plant quarantine regulations in the Kingdom were inadequate and led to fears of the introduction of new pathogens and the establishment of new disease areas in the country. Little data is available regarding pests and diseases and the level of damage to crops. It was suspected that losses in Saudi Arabia were high. However the only information available dated back to 1969, when Puccinia graminis f.sp. tritici (black rust) caused significant damage on wheat, severe in most wheat growing regions, and in some plots of Dorma, no grains were formed, resulting in 100% loss (Sharif, 1983).










Photo of Puccinia graminis f.sp. tritici (black rust)

 

Bibliography

Al-Ghobari, H.M. (2000). Estimation of reference evapotranspiration for southern region of Saudi Arabia. Irrigation Science 19; 81-86.

Anderson, J.N.D. (1986). The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 7th edition, Stacey International, London and New Jersey. 256pp.

Natour, R.M. (1970). A survey of plant diseases in Saudi Arabia. Beiträge zur Tropischen und Subtropischen Landwirtschaft und Tropenvetenerinärmedizin 8; 65-70.

Sharif, M. (1983). Wheat diseases in the Central and Eastern Regions of Saudi Arabia. Ministry of Agriculture and Water, Regional Agriculture and Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 52pp.

Shehata, W.M. & Amin, A.A. (1997). Geotechnical hazards associated with desert environment. Natural Hazards 16; 81-95.

Van-Ollenbach, A.W. (1978). Planting Guide to the Middle East, The Architectural Press Ltd., London. 154pp.



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