90% of GCC land ‘not fit for agriculture’

A study by a top expert has confirmed that more than 90 percent of the total area of the Gulf states is unfit for agriculture.
The study conducted by Faisal Al-Otaibi shows that the lands of GCC countries have a low fertility and only a small part can be classified as “excellent” for agriculture.
The lands fit for agriculture and those for crops only represent 1.63 percent of the lands of the GCC countries, put at 257 million hectares. 
The forests and woods represent only 1.8 million hectares, a small percentage compared to the region’s area. 
Natural forests represent 1.5 million hectares, and these are in the highlands in the south of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Oman; this means the issue of desertification remains a big environmental problem in these countries. 
The reason for this can be related to the deterioration of the land in GCC states because of urbanization, industrialization and grazing.
The report also said that the agricultural areas in the GCC countries are very few. 
According to the study, the GDP contribution in UAE, Qatar and Kuwait is less than one percent; in Oman and Saudi Arabia the contribution is two percent; and in Bahrain, the figure is negligible. This is why the GCC states rely on food imports. 
Also, the underground water in most Gulf countries is the deepest in the world with its depth going from 1,000 to 10,000 feet. 
Such water lies in areas that have less rainfall, and to guarantee irrigation in the long term, this requires the regulation of groundwater withdrawals, the monitoring of underground reserves, the measurement of its volume and the horizontal agricultural expansion, so it won’t affect water reserves. 
This also means not growing produce that requires a lot of water from the normal agricultural cycle, which affects the volume of production and level of self-sufficiency.
The study forecasts water scarcity by 2035 in the Gulf states.

Source: Arab News