RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has signed an agreement to export products developed using advanced hydroponic farming techniques to the Netherlands and wider Europe. According to a report in the Saudi Press Agency, Dava Agricultural Co. signed a deal with Dutch farming and trading firm Lehmann and Troost to export Saudi vegetables to the northwestern European country and the EU. The agreement is expected to strengthen the Kingdom’s position in the global agricultural export sector. Hydroponics is the science of growing plants without soil and with limited amounts of water. With a design that demands minimal space, hydroponics gardens can grow fruit, vegetables and flowers in half the time of traditional agriculture, using 90 percent less water. The deal aims to raise the marketing efficiency of Saudi agricultural products and achieve a balance between production and marketing, in line with Saudi Vision 2030. The agreement comes within the framework of the plans and vision of Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture to enhance the capacity of the Kingdom’s agricultural sector globally. According to the report, Saudi Arabia produces many vegetables and fruits, including more than 600,000 tonnes of potatoes annually with a self-sufficiency rate exceeding 80 percent. The Kingdom also produces over 650,000 tonnes of tomatoes with a self-sufficiency rate exceeding 67 percent, while it also harvests 1.7 million tonnes of dates with a self-sufficiency rate of 122 percent. In August 2023, state-run Sustainable Agricultural Rural Development Program, also known as Reef, said that Saudi Arabia reached a 63 percent self-sufficiency rate in the value-added agriculture sector. The program, introduced in 2019 to boost the processing and marketing of food produce, has increased and diversified Saudi Arabia’s agricultural production. Besides supporting 63,000 agricultural projects in the Kingdom, the initiative has helped manage the local markets and lessen the impact of fluctuations in food prices worldwide. Reef has also diversified its scope by increasing the income of farming families by attracting tourists and ecological enthusiasts to local cultivations and providing tourist outlets to sell farmers’ products.