Last Sunday, Abdullah Al Hendy, the Head of National Center for Research on Agriculture and Livestock, wrote a report in Al Riyadh Newspaper about a very serious topic: "food and water security in KSA" supporting his report with statistics and numbers from an expert with a practical experience in this field. The confusion between Ministry of Agriculture and Water mislaid the agricultural strategy in a way that could threaten the water reserve with depletion. For these serious problems which are obvious for all experts, the solution could be new laws to control agricultural licenses for crops like olive and the unbelievable and uncontrolled waste of water for planting fodder and palm trees. Many experts said that there is no adequate statistics for the stock but mere guesses based upon fabrications; therefore, some exaggerate our stock and the others warn. With these serious situations, there must be a supreme authority connected directly to the King in order to stop the permission conflict which will deprive us of the most strategic need. The water conservation may start with planting wheat which will not take quarter the olive trees. And the cost of fodder must be seen as a part of our agricultural policy beside vegetables and milk products, because the imbalance between our basic needs of water and the unnecessary waste will involve us in serious problems in the near future as well as the distant one. Oil reserves, as the most important resources are known to us and confirmed with numbers according to accurate scientific studies; on contrary, the other vital resource "water" has not got the same attention. This is a paradox attributed to all government authorities. Perhaps what Al Hendy wrote was an initial to study and analyze our water resources accurately to plan strategies accordingly. But leaving the matter for guesses or negligence for this scary consumption is a probable failure with depleted resource. Perhaps the rich and poor countries have to prescribe laws: even digging a well, changing rivers direction or indifferent consumption must be controlled by strict procedures (since we are a desert environment). I repeat "the situation is serious" and not mere guesses but facts based on studies of qualified researchers. Unless we realize the warning alarm, the indifference will drown us in unseen fact, because the food security is organically connected with water security and both are life and death formula in a case unbearable to negligence.
