Saudi Arabia is one step closer to its goal of preserving its natural resources as it signs a new partnership with a non-profit research center in the UAE, Arab News reported.
The Kingdom’s Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture recently entered into the Green Kingdom Initiative agreement with the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) in Dubai to raise Saudi’s quality of bio-saline agriculture research and systems in the next few years.
The agreement will provide training for Saudi technicians and farmers, and will allow Saudi to make use of ICBA’s knowledge in its bid to sustainably advance agriculture in a way that will withstand the threats of climate change.
Arab News reported that Saudi Arabia has been experimenting ways to grow its own food—such as potatoes, wheat, anda alfalfa—since the 80s. However, the methods have proven to be harmful to the Kingdom’s environment because of the faster rates of withdrawal of groundwater. The initiative aims to reduce water demand with the use of bio-saline as a replacement method to cater to thirsty crops, to cultivate crops by planting them in high-salinity regions, and to raise water productivity by controlling water consumption and changing the farming behavior.
Under the Green Kingdom Initiative, ministry projects involving plant production, drought monitoring, development of promising local crop and forestation varieties, and conservation of plant genetic resources will be proposed in the near future.
