REDUCING FOOD IMPORTS
IN
SAUDI ARABIA
•One of the largest food importer • •Imports 80% of food requirements • •Imported US $129 Billion of goods in 2016 • •Out of this US $30 Billion were food products • •Meat •Poultry Products •Packaged Food •Dietary Products •Novel food •Baby Formula • •Population Growing at a annual rate of 2.5 percent
•Large part of its Land is Desert Around one percent of land is suitable for
Cultivation
•Due to this Agriculture is Limited •Area Land:2,250,000km²
Water:0km² ? •Land use:
Arable land:1.8%
Permanent crops:0%
Permanent pastures56%
Forests and Woodland:0%
Other:42% • •Irrigated land:4,350km² a)Improving Agriculture ? •Most Effective way of reducing Food imports • •Encourage Desert Farming • •Should use Water Harvesting in the areas which records some rainfall. •This water can then used for irrigation b) Recycling sewage Water
•This solution can solve this issue to a very large extent • •The recycled water can be used in agriculture • •Example of the country which successfully implemented this is Israel • •In Israel 85 percent of recycled water is used in agriculture
c) Desalination
•Saudi Arabia is surrounded by sea • •This process can be used on the saline water to extract mineral components • •Desalinated water can be for irrigation purposes
d) Managing Water Leaks
Due to scarcity of water, controlling water leaks can also help in irrigation.
e) Alternative to Fertilizer
Experiments have shown that using microbes in the fields helps in pulling nitrogen from air. This increases the yield and makes soil more healthier.