Saudi Arabia's strategic storage of wheat is about two million sacks of flour, which is enough for local consumption of bread for six months, said Dr. Fahd Balghunaim, Minister of Agriculture. “The strategic plan of the ministry is aimed at supplying the increasing demands of the population for food commodities and achieving food security in its comprehensive meaning,” he said. Balghunaim told local daily Al-Madina on Monday that the ministry had no plans for expanding the cultivation of rice because it consumes large quantities of water. He revealed that coordination was currently being made with the General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) to import cattle live via air transport so as to increase supply in the market. He said the ministry has stopped the agricultural grants for 10 years so as to complete studies concerning the National Water Strategy. “The ministry has continued the agricultural development through leasing of land to projects, which do not need large quantities of water such as poultry, beehives and veterinary hospitals and clinics,” he said. Balghunaim justified the high prices of poultry products to the high cost of fodder, the salaries of foreign workers and the expenses of the construction of slaughterhouses. “We will support the poultry projects and remove any obstacles facing them,” he said. The minister said agricultural investments have increased from SR23.3 billion during the Fifth Five-Year Development Plan 1995-1999 to SR24.5 billion during the Sixth Five-Year Development Plan 2005-2009. He expected the investment to increase by 6.6 percent during the Seventh Five-Year Development Plan 2010-2014. The minister denied allegations that the ministry was wasting the underground water. On the contrary, he said the ministry made strenuous efforts to rationalize the use of water in agriculture and to upgrade the quality of irrigation through the use of technology and modern agricultural methods.
