Saudi Arabia To Lease Crop Land From Pakistan
Saudi Arabia says it is in negotiations with Pakistan to lease an area of farmland twice the size of Hong Kong to grow wheat, fruit and vegetables.
Saudi recently abandoned a drive to become self-sufficient in wheat, saying that the plan wasn't viable with the cost of irrigation and the country's inhospitable climate.
The country, which consumes around 2.6 MMT of wheat a year, now plans to rent half a million acres of farmland from Pakistan, said Tauqir Ahmad Faiq, regional secretary at the ministry of agriculture.
There has to be more than a few moral questions to be asked here. A country with a population of 173 million, that is struggling to feed itself, where you can buy a new kidney for $1500, renting farmland to an oil-rich neighbour.
You can just picture farmers being evicted from their land to make way for the the Saudi Food Co monster. Envisage the starving masses peering over the fence into this massive oasis of food destined for the tables in Riyadh.
"Bugger off you lot, there's no water to drink here. That's Saudi water in that reservoir. We've sold them the next five years rainfall on a GAFTA 109 cash-upfront basis."
Saudi recently abandoned a drive to become self-sufficient in wheat, saying that the plan wasn't viable with the cost of irrigation and the country's inhospitable climate.
The country, which consumes around 2.6 MMT of wheat a year, now plans to rent half a million acres of farmland from Pakistan, said Tauqir Ahmad Faiq, regional secretary at the ministry of agriculture.
There has to be more than a few moral questions to be asked here. A country with a population of 173 million, that is struggling to feed itself, where you can buy a new kidney for $1500, renting farmland to an oil-rich neighbour.
You can just picture farmers being evicted from their land to make way for the the Saudi Food Co monster. Envisage the starving masses peering over the fence into this massive oasis of food destined for the tables in Riyadh.
"Bugger off you lot, there's no water to drink here. That's Saudi water in that reservoir. We've sold them the next five years rainfall on a GAFTA 109 cash-upfront basis."