Workshop on Operationalizing the Regional Collaborative Platform to Address ‘Water Consumption, Water Productivity and Drought Management’ in Agriculture, 27 - 29 October 2015, Cairo, Egypt

1. F
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Ministry Of Agriculture
Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations
NENA Regional Stakeholder Workshop
Cairo: 27 – 29 October 2015
Agriculture and Irrigation
at
The Ministry of Agriculture
Saleh Alluhaydan
Ali AlJaloud
Abdullah AlKhathran
‫الرحيم‬‫الرحمن‬‫اهلل‬‫بسم‬‫بس‬

2. Agricultural Sector
 Development goals of: food security, diversification
of the production base, minimizing the reliance on
oil as a main income source, and reducing
dependence on imports of food commodities.
 Sector benefitted from national policies and
programs: subsidies, interest-free loans, land
distribution, free services
 Results:
 Effective growth in all sector activities
 Self-sufficiency in various agricultural products
 Investments in parallel activities: chemicals,
fertilizers, agro-industry
 Shifting from self-sufficiency objectives to those of
food security with the preservation of water security.
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3. Some figures on the
Agricultural sector
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 More than 800,000 ha
 More than 85% of total
water consumed
 Large water footprint:
83% of non renewable
groundwater
consumed
 About 50% of the
water consumed is
used in the production
of crops

4. Main features
 Very low portion is renewable water
 Most water used is non renewable groundwater
 Agriculture is the largest water consuming sector
‫بالمملكة‬ ‫المياه‬ ‫مصادر‬
‫متجددة‬ ‫مياه‬
23%
‫غيرمتجددة‬ ‫جوفية‬ ‫مياه‬
69%
‫التحلية‬ ‫مياه‬
7%
‫معالجة‬ ‫صرف‬ ‫مياه‬
1%
‫أرقام‬NWS 2012
‫بالمملكة‬ ‫المياه‬ ‫استخدام‬
‫زراعية‬
83%
‫صناعية‬
4%
‫بلدية‬
13%
‫أرقام‬NWS 2012
‫المائي‬ ‫االستهالك‬ ‫إجمالي‬:17.42‫م‬ ‫بليون‬3‫بالزراعة‬ ‫المائي‬ ‫االستهالك‬:14.42‫م‬ ‫بليون‬3
4
Water Sector

5. Water
Recommit
M3/year
Production
TON/HaCorps
6500-75007-8wheat
6000-700035-38potatoes
20000-2200020-22Alfalfa
70
70-85
Kg/treedate 5
Water Productivity For Major Field corps

6.  For greenhouse we have very good
water efficiency some commercial
farmer reach to 50 letter /kg tomato
– cucumber ……..etc.
 In the north of the Kingdom the
rainfall reach 300 mm/year ; and the
farmer utilized the water to irrigate
some major crops sorghum and
produce a good yield and the
estimated production in the Kingdom
in 2013 (110299) ton and also they
grow millet and sesame
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7.  The Ministry published good
reference water; soil; weather ; land
use atlas and water requirement
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8. • Reduce cropped area (land
decommissioning)
• Crops and varieties with low
water requirements
• Crop shift – comparative
advantage
• Improve irrigation
performance
• Impose quotas
• Various bans (exports)
• Subsidies and rewards
• Capping of wells
• Capacity building
• Awareness raising
Increase water supply - Reduce water demand
Improve irrigation performance
• Reduce water uptake
• Reduce water losses
• Increase productivity to water
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Agricultural Demand Management
Ways and Means for
Improvement
MOA Challenges

9.  National Agricultural Strategy (NAS)
 Fodder strategy
 National rangeland strategy
 Camel & small ruminants strategy
 Rural development framework
 National forest strategy
 National action plan for combating
desertification
 Participation in:
 National water strategy (MOWE)
 Long term vision (MOEP)
 Decision 335
 Decision 92
 ADF initiative for implementing
Decision 92
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Some Strategies under
preparation/ finalizing

10. National Agricultural Strategy
 Activity conducted with assistance
from FAO
 The study conducted extensive socio-
economic and technical surveys of
the Saudi agriculture.
 Strategic objectives
 Among the important and relevant
results obtained are figures on water
use in irrigation, economic and
financial returns for irrigation water
used with different crops and
irrigation systems, etc.
 Several pillars were retained for the
strategy, chief among them is the
sustainable use of water in irrigation.
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11. 11
Irrigation in MOA
Central administration of MOA, in charge of irrigation
Locally represented by Section of Irrigation Affairs
within the General Directorates of Agriculture in the
13 regions
Mandate:
 to plan, coordinate, develop, monitor, organize and
maintain irrigation and drainage projects and
programs
Deputy Ministry for Natural Agricultural
Resources

12. 12
National Irrigation
Administration
(NIA – Riyadh)
Reuse of TWW for irrigation
Started 1982
455 farms - 17,500 ha
50 MCM per year of TWW
Distribution of TWW to the
farm gates through a
collective pressurized
irrigation network
Demand for TWW is increasing
Prospects for increasing the
area to 25000 ha as part of the
Master Plan for TWW in Riyadh

13. Farmer benefits
1 – More/Better Yield.
2 – Less energy consumption.
3 – Lower production costs.
4 – Rational water use.
The project
4 yr project, 80 field locations with
measurements of: weather data,
soil moisture, water consumption,
crop data.
GPRS
MOA

14. 14
FAO Project: Development of
Irrigation Water Management and
Improvement of Water Use efficiency:
2012-2017
Long Term Objectives
Improve Water Use Efficiency
Irrigation management with higher
efficiency (water losses) and
effectiveness (productivity to water)
Implement field activities
Awareness raising on application of
crop water requirements, modern
irrigation systems, advanced
irrigation scheduling techniques
Capacity building
MOA staff and farmers
Training
Study tours
Technical assistance

15. Thank you
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