The Development of Wheat Production in Saudi Arabia

(Salah Mohammed Eid)

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Abstract

Within the past two decades, the agricultural sector in Saudi Arabia witnessed tremendous development. The total crop area increased from 0.6 million hectares in 1980 to 1.7 million hectares in 1995. Wheat crop production captured the lion share from the agricultural development programs in Saudi Arabia. The total wheat output of 1991 reached more than 4.1 million tons grown on 0.924 million hectares of cultivated areas. The governmental restrain for wheat production caused the output to decline to 1.09 million ton in 1995. The value of local agricultural production increased from 3.4 to 23.5 billion Saudi Riyal during the period from 1969 to 1993. The contribution of agriculture to the total gross domestic product grew from 4.4 to 9 per cent in the same period. The agricultural sector in Saudi Arabia depends mostly on the underground non-renewable water resources which from more than 80% of its requirements. Wheat production consumes one third of the total water used for irrigation in Saudi Arabia. The produced wheat has been governmentally subsidized at a price of 3.5 Riyal per kg during the period from 1978 to 1984. The subsidies are declined to 2 Riyals then in 1995 to 1.5 Riyals per kg. The per capita consumption of wheat in Saudi Arabia is 420gm per day most of it is in the form of bread.
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