External agricultural investment will play a role in providing some of food commodities through the Saudi Agricultural and Livestock Investment Compan

RIYADH — There is no shortage in food supplies and stocks are aplenty. Pumped water supplies are continuing as usual to all regions of the Kingdom, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) quoted the Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture Eng. Abdulrahman Bin Abdulmohsen Al-Fadhli as stating on Saturday, while reassuring the public.

Al-Fadhli stressed that the various sectors of the ministry are working in full harmony and continuous coordination to secure food and water supplies and ensure their safety, in light of the emerging conditions and the government measures that followed to mitigate their impacts.

In a press statement, after checking the progress of work in a number of projects concerned with food security in Riyadh Region, Al-Fadhli explained that the pumped water supplies are continuing to all regions of the Kingdom, noting that the total daily distributed quantities in the Kingdom amount to about 9.7 million cubic meters per day.

Al-Fadhli indicated that the desalinated water production and transport system are continuing as usual, confirming the regularity of the production and transportation systems, which are ensuring the continuity of water supplies to all the targeted regions of the Kingdom.

As regards the agricultural sector, Al-Fadhli said that the Saudi Grains Organization (SAGO) and milling companies have the ability, when needed, to produce about 270,000 bags per day of flour, each weighing 45 kg, of all types of flour intended for the production of bread and other products, through 15 locations in various regions of the Kingdom.

The wheat storage capacity at the level of the Kingdom is about 3.3 million tons, and production capacity is about 15,150 tons per day, the minister said.

Al-Fadhli indicated that the current stock in flour warehouses in all regions of the Kingdom, ready to be pumped into the market, amounts to about 1.8 million 45 kgs bags, in addition to household packaging and daily production that covers the local daily need.

As to the fresh food supplies, Al-Fadhli said that the local production of various vegetables exceeds 180,000 tons per month, which is provided to the local markets in the Kingdom.

There are no shortages in the supply of vegetables in the markets. Apart from this, the daily production of birds exceeds 3.5 million birds per day, while the daily production of eggs reaches 15 million eggs, while the daily production of milk exceeds 7.5 million liters, and the daily production of sea products exceeds 437 tons per day.

Al-Fadhli emphasized that the abundance of food supply and stocks comes within the goals of the food security strategy recently approved by the Council of Ministers.

In this regard, the ministry started in cooperation with other sectors, the formation and activation of a four-level structure, to ensure effective governance for the implementation of this strategy, in which 8 food commodities that constitute the strategic food stock hub of the Kingdom were identified.

They were chosen with an applicable scientific methodology. In addition, external agricultural investment will play a role in providing some of these commodities through the Saudi Agricultural and Livestock Investment Company.

Source: Saudi Gazette