RIYADH, 7 June 2007 — Tabuk Gov. Prince Fahd ibn Sultan, head of the committee of the Prince Fahd ibn Sultan Contest for Model Farms, on Tuesday honored 30 farmers in the region.
Prince Fahd distributed plaques as well as cash prizes to this year’s winners among whom were Saudi women who own farms in the province. “If this proves anything, it illustrates that honest work is the best way to earn a living which Islam has specified,” he said.
He said that agriculture development in the Kingdom started by the wisdom of the government to convert arid land into agricultural land during the reign of the late King Fahd. That strategy, he said, continued on with the support of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to farmers and the agriculture sector in the Kingdom. Prince Fahd ruled out that the Kingdom’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) would affect its agricultural strategies.
“We are part of this world and what affects it affects us. We are capable of confronting the challenges,” he said.
Abdul Majeed Al-Imam, a farmer who won one of the prizes, said that the support given by the government to Saudi farmers has enabled them to produce quantities of crop that exceeded expectations in a short period of time.
“We have gone beyond the market and are exporting to other countries,” he said on behalf of the other winners. He also said that by providing local crops in the market, Saudi farmers have participated in reducing inflation in the country. About 480 farmers have won the prize in the past 16 years of the contest’s history.
