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Over the past decade, the agriculture in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has drastically improved. Although Saudi Arabia is widely thought of as a desert, it has regions where the climate has favoured agriculture. The government in particular has aided with this process by converting large areas of desert into agricultural fields.〔(Agriculture in Saudi Arabia )〕 By implementing major irrigation projects and adopting large scale mechanization, this has progressed in developing agriculture in Saudi Arabia, adding previously barren areas to the stock of cultivatable land.〔(Samirad )〕 Today, agriculture in Saudi Arabia is focused on the export of wheat, dates, dairy products, eggs, fish, poultry, fruits, vegetables and flowers to markets around the world. 〔 The government of the nation is heavily involved in the agriculture industry, and the ministry of agriculture is primarily responsible for the agricultural policies in the nation. The private sector as well plays a role in the nation, as the government offers long-term interest free loans, along with low-cost water, fuel, electricity and duty-free imports of raw materials and machinery. Still, Saudi Arabia is dependent on imports to meet 70% of its food requirements.〔 ==History== During the 1970s and 1980s, the government undertook a massive restructuring of agriculture in Saudi Arabia. The stated objectives were food security through self-sufficiency and improvement of rural incomes. Although successful in raising domestic output of several important crops and foodstuffs through the introduction of modern agricultural techniques, the agricultural development program has not entirely achieved these objectives. In regard to self-sufficiency, the kingdom produced a limited surplus, sufficient to export some quantities of food. However, if the entire production process were considered, the import of fertilizers, equipment, and labor have made the Kingdom even more dependent on foreign inputs to bring food to the average Saudi household.〔 Two patterns of income distribution emerged: traditional agricultural regions did not benefit from the development program, and the government's financial support led to the establishment of large-scale agricultural production units. Some of these were managed and operated by foreign entities and owned by wealthy individuals and large businesses. From an environmental viewpoint, the program had a less than satisfactory impact. Not only has it caused a serious drain on the kingdom's water resources, drawing mainly from non-renewable aquifers, but it has also required the use of massive amounts of chemical fertilizers to boost yields. In 1992 Saudi agricultural strategy was only sustainable as long as the government maintained a high level of direct and indirect subsidies, a drain on its budget and external accounts.〔(Agriculture in Saudi Arabia )〕 The contribution of agriculture to the gross domestic product (GDP) in 1984 was 3.3%. In 2001, it increased to 5.1%, but it was due to decline in oil revenues.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Agriculture in Saudi Arabia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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