Saudi Arabia’s agriculture sector achieved a record contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) at SAR 100 billion in 2022, Vice Minister of Environment, Water & Agriculture (MEWA) Mansour Bin Hilal Al Mushaiti said.
The Kingdom adopted many strategies, initiatives and programs to promote sustainable development, and will continue to support Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to achieve food security and combat hunger and poverty, Al Mushaiti said at the 43rd FAO Conference.
Al Mushaiti pointed out that more than 70% of the lending rate depends on supporting advanced technologies to shift to modern vertical farming, and that the value of lending to agricultural projects amounted to SAR 7 billion in 2022, compared to SAR 500 million in 2015.
An amount of $3 billion is allocated to supporting and empowering small producers and rural families in several agricultural fields.
The Kingdom achieved high rates of self-sufficiency in many agricultural crops, particularly, those that depend on modern technologies, using Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), which contributed to reducing agricultural consumption from 86% to less than 70%.
Source : Argaam