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CENTER PIVOT IRRIGATION K.S.A. 2013

What started as an ambitious dream, for a desert nation bereft of rivers and lakes to become self-sufficient in wheat, became a reality with the aid of billions...
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What started as an ambitious dream, for a desert nation bereft of rivers and lakes to become self-sufficient in wheat, became a reality with the aid of billions of dollars from the first oil boom in the 1970s. Today, however, Saudi Arabia is preparing to phase out production by 2016. The volte face could make the Gulf nation one of the world’s top 15 importers of the cereal – even as countries across the globe grapple with high wheat prices. Officials say they had few options – it was wheat or water, the most precious of resources in Saudi Arabia. Now that the kingdom is enjoying a second oil boom, they say, the government has the financial clout to ensure it meets its cereal requirements from international markets. It is expected to begin importing wheat for the first time in more than 20 years in 2009. At the time, wheat was absorbing about 40 per cent of water used for agriculture – a sector that accounts for 85 per cent of the kingdom’s total water consumption.
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