Organic Farming in Saudi Arabia: Prospects and Challenges

Introduction

This paper explores the potential development of a full dissertation examining the environmental and socio-economic prospects and challenges of organic farming in Saudi Arabia. One must consider that the available land in this nation is slightly more than one-fifth the size of the United States and has a harsh climate of dry desert and extreme temperatures. The terrain is mostly uninhabited because a large portion of it is desert subject to frequent sand and dust storms. Only a small portion of the land is arable — just 1.67% available for permanent crops as of 2005 statistics. Special farming techniques will be required to work with this harsh terrain; however, it is possible, as evidenced by the fact that as of 2003, the nation had up to 16,200 square kilometers under full irrigation.

What type of farming could be useful here? Organic farming presents one promising answer. This technique has been practiced in the majority of countries around the world, with approximately 26 million hectares of cultivated organic land currently in use globally. There is also significant economic output being produced by the world's organic producers. The European Union and the United States are currently the leading markets; however, many new and developing nations have begun to show serious interest in participating in this growing international trend. Organic farming, as opposed to conventional farming, presents an opportunity for individual producers and agricultural business entities to increase their overall worth. Saudi Arabia's agri-food imports in 2004 were $1.7 billion higher than in 2003, and the country's top five imports account for 40% of total agricultural imports.

This proposal incorporates a review of existing resource-planning options and also looks forward to the possibilities of new design and implementation processes pertaining to organic farms. In an ever more competitive, technologically advanced, and profit-motivated global economy, all factions of the agricultural business community are engaged in a never-ending search for new and viable opportunities and solutions that can strategically reduce inherent problems in the farming sector. Nations are also trying to control operational costs associated with farming and thereby systematically increase food output, profitability, and revenues. Throughout history, agricultural entities have successfully reduced costs and increased yields through the implementation of new machinery, irrigation techniques, and field restructuring.

Today, however, water and land resources have become indispensable assets that can no longer be cut without creating severely adverse effects on farm productivity, quality, and efficiency. Groundwater supplies have been depleted and there are no perennial rivers or permanent water bodies in the region. Water resource management is a complex balancing act — the development of extensive seawater desalination facilities has provided new options for the nation, but coastal pollution from oil spills offsets some of those gains. Because of this, the overriding objective for most organic farming organizations and individuals has become a drive toward maximum efficiency. The core tenet guiding the environmental and socio-economic prospects of organic farming in Saudi Arabia is therefore to focus on the design, construction, and use of viable organic farm systems that can increase food crop output for all stakeholders involved.