Persian Gulf countries need to address growing food security concerns by lessening their US$12 billion dependency on food imports, say the organisers of the Middle East's largest agribusiness trade event.
Demand is rising throughout the Middle East for many basic goods including rice, wheat and dairy products and the region is now importing 60 percent of its meat requirements estimated at 1.5 million tonnes per annum and as much as 90 percent of its overall food requirements.
"The justification for a strategic approach to sustainable agriculture in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) has never been greater. Population growth, subdued oil revenues, limited water resources, a lack of arable land and the negative effects of the global credit crunch are all taking their toll,'' said Goutam Malhotra, Exhibition Manager of AGRA Middle East, which takes place at the Dubai International Exhibition Centre from 30 March - 1 April 2009.
To compound the situation, Saudi Arabia announced last year that it was abandoning wheat production due the excessive amounts of precious water required. They like the UAE are trying to fix the problem by farming land overseas in places such as Sudan and Malaysia. However this is unlikely to solve the problem long term, especially if the indigenous population are short of food.
In any case, conventional intensive farming methods have not only contributed to environmental damage, but resulted in declining rates of agricultural productivity. Through the prolific use of fertilisers and pesticides, over-ploughing and excessive irrigation, agricultural productivity has declined.
The global population will be nearly nine billion within 40 years, and overall crop yields will drop by nearly 1.5 percent during that period, Malhotra said.
In developing countries, growth in wheat production has slipped 3 percent since 1980, while rice and corn have both dropped 2 percent during the same period, said Malhotra, adding that urbanisation and erosion have lowered available arable land.
One solution endorsed by Dr. Shirav Pandey, Director of FAO's Plant Production and Protection Division is Conservative Agriculture. According to his keynote address at the IVth World Congress on Conservation Agriculture in New Delhi recently, this sustainable farming system which is now practiced on 100 million hectares of land globally, promotes permanent soil cover and diversified crop rotation to ensure optimal soil health and productivity.
Technology is also providing some answers and another potential direction the region can take is a solution offered by Dynamic Fodder – a company which operates effectively in parts of the Australian 'outback', where climatic conditions are similar to the interiors of the GCC countries.
Their latest technology which will be on show at AGRAme, can produce up to 700 kilos of high quality livestock cattle fodder per day from a 12-metre purpose-built container. Normally it would take 20 hectares of fertile land to produce the same amount of cattle feed.
''Given the population increase and the ticking clock, the region will need a combination of solutions, but acquiring modern technologies, equipment and expertise and shifting investment trends toward the development of the agricultural sector, will inevitably play a key role. Forward-thinking companies will spearhead the drive for sustainable agriculture in the Persian Gulf,'' concluded Malhotra.
