Saudi Arabia
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| AGRICULTURE |
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The kingdom aims at grains self-sufficiency. Wheat self-sufficiency has been reached since 1984. The Saudi agriculture lives thanks to subsidies. Indeed, considering the climatic and technical difficulties, each ton of wheat costs 300 dollars of subsidies.
Concerning the irrigation problem, thanks to Saudi researchers actions, the technique of the central pivot has allowed to save 400 m3 of water by hectare.
Agricultural population (in thousands)
Total population
24 919
Agricultural population
1 844
Non agricultural population
23 076
Source : 2004, FAOSTAT
Land use
Cultivated surface area
173 798 000
Irrigated surface area
1 620 000
Number of farms
n.c.
Number of tractors
9 930
Source : 2003, FAOSTAT
Production indicators
Main crops
| Product | Production (in thousands) | Harvested surface (1000 ha) | Yield by hectare (kg/ha) |
| Wheat | 2648 | 490 | 5404 |
| Dates | 970 | 151 | 6439 |
| Tomatoes | 496 | 17 | 28644 |
| Potatoes | 441 | 18 | 24308 |
| Watermelons | 364 | 18 | 20081 |
Source : 2005, FAOSTAT
Livestock
| Specie | Headcount (in thousands) |
| Chickens | 141000 |
| Sheep | 7000 |
| Goats | 2200 |
| Cattle | 350 |
| Camels | 260 |
Source : 2005, FAOSTAT
Fishing (in metric tons)
| Shellfish, mollusks and cephalopods | Saltwater fish | Freshwater fish |
| 24 061 | 47 722 | 2 734 |
Source : 2005, FAOSTAT