The Ministry of Agriculture and the National Committee at the Saudi Council of Chambers are working on a plan to set Saudization (nationalization) ratios for the agricultural sector.

A source in the ministry said the plan would be presented to the Ministry of Labor.

A list of classifications will be added so that Nitaqat-based (nationalization) ratios can be allocated accordingly.

The study will classify agricultural labor into categories, such as manual laborers, employees, technicians and agricultural engineers.

This list of classifications will then be linked with the needs of each individual unit.

The Ministry of Labor had previously not taken into consideration the peculiarity of certain agricultural jobs.

Other factors, such as the expected market supply of agricultural labor according to statistics released by the Ministries of Education and Agriculture and graduates from technical courses and agricultural colleges, will also be taken into account.

In addition, the study will analyze the number and quality of jobs in the agricultural sector according to gender and nationality and will define obstacles that hinder the entrance of Saudis into the sector’s job market.

The initial findings of the study recommended decreasing the ratio of job nationalization in the sector by 11 percent, in addition to providing support for specialized sectors such as palm, grape, potato, olive production that depend on seasonal labor for production and harvesting.

Eid Al-Mubarak, head of the Agriculture Committee at the Saudi Council of Chambers, said that the ministry had asked the National Committee for Agriculture at the council to provide a report on the matter to the Labor Ministry.

He said that the agricultural sector heavily depended on jobs such as cleaning and harvesting crops and grazing animals that do not fulfill the aspirations of Saudi youth. “The sector is in urgent need of mechanisms to meet the demand for labor,” he added.