Saudi Arabia and Petroleum Control
Foreword:
In this document I will explain why I am against the use of water in agriculture in the Arab desert. To support what I say, and therefore to be as precise as possible, I will use the country of Saudi Arabia.
Brief presentation of the situation in Saudi Arabia:
Saudi Arabia is the largest country in the Arabian peninsula, with a total area of 2.149.690 km2. Its territory, covered largely by the Rub al Khali desert, is also one of the driest countries in the world.
If the country is known for its immense oil reserves, it also has important water resources, but these are fragile and limited. The presence of lakes and rivers is almost non -existent and underground reserves cannot be renewed, since the country receives less than 60 mm rain a year.
With a renewable water availability of less than 500 m3 per person and year, Saudi Arabia is a country that suffers extreme and permanent water stress. However, the global consumption of its inhabitants is considerable with a 5.100 liters per person per day, 66% of which are imported. The situation can become unsustainable. The situation can become unsustainable, since the agriculture of the country is draining the aquifers and the consumption of the inhabitants does not decrease.
Insufficiency of the agricultural model:
Agriculture is the main cause of the exhaustion of the underground water resources of Saudi Arabia. It is based on a scheme adopted in the 1970s, when the government presented a food self-sufficiency program based on an industrial production method that consumes a lot of water and energy.
Central pivot irrigation is a form of irrigation that produces artificial rains through automatic disk air irrigation that usually have a kilometer in diameter. It is the main irrigation technique in the desert regions of Saudi Arabia, since it is used for 64% of the country’s crops.
It is followed by surface irrigation, with 32%, and drip irrigation, with only 2%. This distribution is inappropriate, since irrigation by means of central pivots is counterproductive in the desert, where evaporation rates of irrigation water can reach more than 50% due to high temperatures and wind. Pivot irrigation is mainly used to produce fodder for cattle feeding. In an additional total area of 20.000 acres, these crops produce crops of the order of 400.000 tons of alfalfa, 300.000 tons corn and 30.000 tons of hay, for about ten cuts per year.
conclusion
The financial hole created by inappropriate and generously subsidized agricultural practices, as well as the damages caused by the pumping of the country’s water tables, have led to a partial questioning of the agricultural model adopted in the 1970 decade by Saudi Arabia.
The overexploitation of aquifers has direct consequences in the quality of extracted water (increased radioactivity and salinity) and in the environment (aggravation of desertification).
Once a certain amount of water is pumped, the fields become difficult to exploit due to the increase in salinity and, sometimes, of radioactivity. In the case of agriculture, groundwater loaded with salt are mixed with fresh water until the crop becomes impossible. Then it is abandoned and moved hundreds of kilometers away, where a new well is excavated.
Can Saudi Arabia find another more respectful agricultural model?
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