Agriculture in Saudi Arabia is depleting groundwater and is on the verge of a tipping point, online publication Agratheute reported April 14.
Al Safi, a 50,000 head dairy farm, is one of the largest in the world. It is located in Saudi Arabia, in the Rub al-Khali desert, where the outside temperature reaches 55°C. 1,500 head of cattle are kept in 500-meter-long barns.
The farm is supplied with water from underground sources. Cooling is carried out by fans that, thanks to the evaporation of water, maintain the temperature of the rooms at 27°C.
To produce one liter of milk, a farm uses about one hundred liters of water. In total, the farm consumes 80 thousand m³ per day.
The cows are milked four times a day. The average productivity of a Holstein cow is 40 liters per day. The farm produces 800 thousand liters of milk per day.
To avoid increased water consumption, it is prohibited to grow food plants in the desert. The feed is imported from all over the world. The farm needs 1,300 tons of feed per day.
Al-Safi farm was built in 1981 by order of the royal family. Saudi Arabia’s food self-sufficiency program began in 1973 after the oil crisis.
Thanks to government subsidies, the country has significantly reduced its dependence on food imports. The State paid for the purchase of cows in Europe and Canada. Farms were allowed to use groundwater.
In the 1980s, Saudi Arabia became a food exporter. The country sells cereals, vegetables, fruits and dairy products.
Agriculture in Saudi Arabia requires a lot of water. The depth of the wells reaches 2 km, from which water comes out at a temperature of 70°C and requires refrigeration.
According to the UN, intensive agriculture has caused groundwater levels to drop six meters a year since the 1980s. Because there is very little rain, groundwater is not recharged. In many parts of the country the level has fallen to critical levels. Researchers believe the country is approaching a tipping point.
Source: Rossa Primavera
I am Michael Melvin, an experienced news writer with a passion for uncovering stories and bringing them to the public. I have been working in the news industry for over five years now, and my work has been published on multiple websites. As an author at 24 News Reporters, I cover world section of current events stories that are both informative and captivating to read.