The Saudi Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture, Abdul Rahman Al-Fadli, approved the expansion plan in the plant wealth and greenhouses sector, with investments worth 4 billion riyals until 2025.
Al-Fadli said that the expansion plan would contribute to an additional production estimated at 430,000 tons, bringing the production capacity of greenhouses to more than one million tons annually.
Al-Fadli explained that the expansion plan comes as an extension of the unlimited support enjoyed by the agricultural sector in the Kingdom, as the value of loans provided by the Agricultural Development Fund to the productive sectors during 2022 exceeded about 5 billion riyals, according to what was reported by the Saudi Press Agency SPA.
The preparation of the expansion plan in greenhouses using modern technologies started from an early age. This type of agriculture has been used in the Kingdom for over 30 years.
Agriculture in greenhouses has witnessed remarkable development in all its technical, productive and preventive fields, as greenhouses help in producing crops on time and prolong their seasons of availability as it is a major factor for the success of specialized agricultural production, such as organic agriculture, and provides protection from the effects of different climatic conditions, such as high and low heat waves alike, rain and wind, and limits the spread of agricultural pests.
The results of research and scientific studies carried out by the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture showed that the use of modern technologies in the agricultural sector and greenhouses contributed to saving irrigation water by up to 60%, in addition to raising productivity, reducing costs, improving quality, and increasing farmers’ profits.