Agriculture in Saudi Arabia

Agriculture in Saudi Arabia is the cultivation of crops and raising of livestock under arid and semi-arid conditions, shaped by scarce renewable water and extensive irrigation.

Fossil water: Groundwater stored over geological timescales and replenished too slowly to sustain current extraction. Pumping nonrenewable aquifers enabled large-scale farming in the desert.
Date palm: A palm cultivated for its sweet fruit, especially in hot, dry regions. Dates are a traditional staple and a major Saudi crop.
Saudi Arabia wheat production program: A government-backed program that expanded domestic wheat cultivation from the 1970s before its planned phaseout. Its rapid expansion and withdrawal illustrate the tradeoff between food output and groundwater conservation.
Food self-sufficiency: The ability of a country to meet its food needs through domestic production. Saudi policy has shifted away from maximizing self-sufficiency in water-intensive crops.
Climate change in Saudi Arabia: Observed and projected changes in Saudi Arabia's climate, including rising temperatures and shifts in precipitation. Heat and rainfall changes may alter crop suitability and livestock stress.
Center-pivot irrigation: A mechanized irrigation system that rotates sprinklers around a central pivot, watering circular fields. Its circular crop fields became a defining feature of Saudi desert agriculture.
Wheat: A cereal grass whose grains are milled into flour and used as food and animal feed. Saudi Arabia expanded wheat production before curbing it to conserve groundwater.
Saudi Arabia groundwater depletion: The decline of Saudi Arabia's groundwater reserves through extraction exceeding natural recharge. Irrigated farming has been a major source of aquifer drawdown.
Virtual water: The water used to produce a good, considered as water effectively transferred when the good is traded. Importing water-intensive crops can conserve domestic groundwater by outsourcing their water use.
Managed aquifer recharge: The intentional addition of water to aquifers for storage and later recovery. Its potential to replenish depleted reserves depends on available water and suitable geology.

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