Saudi Arabia Develops Two New Wheat Strains to Boost Local Production and Strengthen Food Security
One New Strain Delivers 40% Higher Yields Than the Kingdom’s Most Widely Grown Commercial Wheat Variety While Using Less Irrigation Water
The National Research and Development Center for Sustainable Agriculture (Estidamah) has achieved a promising research milestone by developing two new wheat strains that have demonstrated strong results in initial field trials, particularly in terms of yield performance and irrigation water-use efficiency.
The development represents an important step toward strengthening the production of one of the Kingdom’s key strategic crops and supporting national food security.
According to the preliminary trial results, the first strain achieved a yield of 9.8 tonnes per hectare, representing a 40% increase compared with the commercial wheat variety most widely cultivated in the Kingdom. At the same time, it reduced irrigation water consumption by approximately 15%.
The second strain recorded a yield of 8.6 tonnes per hectare, exceeding the comparable commercial variety by 23%, while reducing irrigation water use by approximately 24.2%.
Beyond their high yields and water-use efficiency, both strains demonstrated several positive agronomic characteristics, including lodging resistance and suitability to local growing conditions. These traits could help improve wheat production efficiency and reduce crop losses.
Research trials are still ongoing to verify the stability of the two strains’ performance and assess their productivity under different environmental and agricultural conditions, while completing the necessary scientific and technical stages of the project before broader evaluation and application.
The development of the two strains is part of Estidamah’s Strategic Crops Development Project, which focuses on increasing the productivity of crops that are important to food security, improving the efficiency of natural resource use, and developing agricultural strains adapted to the Kingdom’s environmental and production conditions.
The center has relied on nuclear technologies and modern plant-breeding programs to develop genetic resources that combine high productivity, efficient water use, and adaptability to local production conditions.
This approach represents an important step toward developing more productive, efficient, and sustainable wheat varieties. In the long term, such varieties could help strengthen the productive capacity of the agricultural sector, narrow the gap between domestic production and national demand, and support Saudi Arabia’s efforts to advance food security and agricultural sustainability.
The development of these two strains also highlights the growing role of scientific research and agricultural innovation in Saudi Arabia, demonstrating how advanced technologies can be harnessed to develop strategic crops that deliver higher yields with fewer resources and contribute to a more efficient, resilient, and sustainable food system.
