Business & Money | Saturday 21 March, 2020 4:48 pm |

Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture Eng. Abdulrahman bin Abdulmohsen Al-Fadhli stressed that the various sectors of the ministry work in full harmony and continuous coordination to secure food and water supplies and ensure their safety, in light of the emerging conditions, and the governmental measures that were followed to reduce their impact.
He explained in a press statement after standing on the progress of work on a number of projects concerned with food security in Riyadh region, that the water pumping supplies continue to all regions of the Kingdom, noting that the total daily distribution 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 continues in its usual activity, confirming the regularity of the production and transportation system work to ensure the continuity of water supplies to the targeted all regions of the Kingdom.
Regarding to the agricultural sector, Al-Fadhli stated that Saudi Grains Organization (SAGO) and milling companies have the ability, when needed, to produce about 270 thousand flour bags weighing 45 kg per day of all types of flour intended for the production of bread and other products, through 15 locations in various regions of the Kingdom, and wheat storage capacities at the Kingdom level are about 3.3 million tons, and production capacity is about 15,15 thousand tons per day.
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 bags weighing 45 kg, in addition to household packaging and daily production that covers the local daily need.
Regarding to the fresh food supplies, Al-Fadhli stated that the local production of various vegetables exceeds 180,000 tons per month, which is provided to the local markets in the Kingdom, and was not affected with any shortage, besides that 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 is more than 7.5 million liters, and that the daily production of sea products exceeds 437 tons per day.
Al-Fadhli emphasized that the abundance of supply and storage of food comes within the goals of the food security strategy recently approved by the Cabinet, where the Ministry started in cooperation with other sectors, starting with the formation and activation of a four-level structure, to ensure effective governance for the implementation of this strategy, in which identifying 8 food commodities that constitute the strategic food stock hub of the Kingdom, chosen with a applicable scientific methodology, and external agricultural investment will play a role in providing some of these commodities through the Saudi Agricultural and Livestock Investment Company.