Saudi Gazette The Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Fahd Bin Abdul Rahman Balghunaim, announced the Ministry of Agriculture's plans, to launch a campaign, to educate the average consumers on the health, environmental, and economic benefits of organic farming. Organic crops are grown with fewer pesticides than the regular produce. Organic farmers use other techniques for pest control and rely less on chemical pesticides. The problem in the Kingdom is that organic produce is not widely available and it is very expensive. The ministry intends to tackle these problems and make organic produce more accessible and affordable. It has also established a department to implement strategies that will foster organic farming in the country, and it will be in cooperation with the Saudi Organic Farming Association. Dr. Saad Bin Abdullah Al-Khlail has been chosen to oversee the project. The department will reach out to all members of the society and create awareness with the help of media, visual aids, lectures, and pamphlets. Some produce have very high concentrations of pesticides and nutrition experts recommend buying others safer and healthier alternatives. Peach in particular is sprayed with over 45 different pesticides. If you cannot find organic peaches, in lieu of it you can consume watermelon, pineapple, tangerines, oranges, grapefruits, bananas, and kiwis. Strawberries, grapes, tomatoes, celery, sweet bell peppers, lettuces and other leafy vegetable are all heavily contaminated with pesticides. Some of these produce have very thin skins or no skin at all, and no amount of washing can help discard these harmful chemicals. Hence, the solution to it is to buy organic products or look for other alternatives which have less or are free from harmful chemicals. __
