Agriculture in Saudi Arabia: policy needs to change

Seifallah M. Sharbatly, deputy general manager of Mohammed Abdallah Sharbatly talks about agriculture in Saudi Arabia.

He says, “I think that the water policy in Saudi Arabia has changed in the last few years, as we soon realized that we don’t have enough water to support all the agricultural products that we were growing. For example, we were growing alfalfa wheat for animals, which we learned required a lot of water, as well as wheat and potatoes.

These all required a lot of water, which is already very scarce in Saudi Arabia. My point of view is that we shouldn’t waste this water on planting agriculture products in Saudi Arabia. The agricultural sector needs to start looking for items or products that are suitable for our weather, soil, and water resources. I think we should revise the policy for all products, even dates and watermelons, which actually needs more than 150 liters of water for one watermelon – imagine if you had a field of water melon!”

Sharbatly is one of the leading family business in Saudi Arabia. Read more about the family at the end of the interview – Agriculture: Saudi Arabia not suitable for agriculture due to lack of water