Intensive dairy, meat, poultry and egg farming were all introduced early in the program, and already by 1985, local farms were satisfying domestic demand for many products previously imported. The Kingdom now has some of the most modern and largest dairy farms in the Middle East. Milk production boasts a remarkably productive annual rate of 1,800 gallons per cow, one of the highest in the world.

While fish production through traditional off-shore fishing has been constantly on the increase, the Kingdom is exploring ways of further increasing its catch and encouraging greater private investment. One of the new areas in which the private sector is investing with government support is aquaculture. The number of fish farms, either using pens in the sea or tanks onshore, has been increasing steadily. Most are located along Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast. Shrimp farming has been particularly successful. The Red Sea Shrimp Farm, for example, which is managed by Saudi hydro biologists, marine engineers and aquaculture technicians, is expected to increase its annual production to over 1,500 tons by the end of 2000. Its shrimp, including the preferred black tiger, is exported mainly to the United States and to Japan.

The Kingdom's most dramatic agricultural accomplishment, noted worldwide, has been its rapid transformation from importer to exporter of wheat. In 1978, the country built its first grain silos. By 1984, it had become self-sufficient in wheat. Shortly thereafter, Saudi Arabia began exporting wheat, and has done so to some thirty countries, including China, the former Soviet Union, Indonesia, South Korea, and Sri Lanka, as well as nations of the European Union and various Arab and Islamic countries. Moreover, in the major producing areas of Tabuk. Hail and Al-Qasim, average yields have more than quadrupled to 3.6 tons per acre. In addition, Saudi farmers grow substantial amounts of other grains such as barley, sorghum and millet.

The Kingdom has also stepped up fruit and vegetable production by improving both agricultural techniques and the roads that link farmers with urban consumers. Saudi Arabia is a major exporter of fruits and vegetables to its neighbors. Among its most productive crops are watermelon, grapes, citrus fruits, onions, squash and tomatoes. At Jizan in the country's well-watered southwest, the Al-Hikmah Research Station is producing tropical fruits including pineapples, paw-paws, bananas, mangoes and guavas.

This agricultural transformation has altered the country's traditional diet, supplying a diversity of local foods unimaginable just a generation ago. Dates are no longer the vital staple for Saudi Arabians that they were in the past, although they still constitute an important supplementary food. Saudi Arabia has approximately nine million, or one-tenth, of the world's productive date palms. The current annual production of dates is estimated at around half a million tons, comprising some 450 different kinds of dates.

Much of this is used as international humanitarian aid. Several factories, including one in Al-Hasa, are dedicated entirely to the production of dates for foreign aid and send tens of thousands of tons of dates each year to relieve famine and food shortages in Arab, Islamic and other nations. In 1998 and 1999 the Kingdom provided the World Food Program (WFP) of the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) with 4,000 tons of dates. A large portion of Saudi Arabia's wheat production is also provided as assistance to needy countries. At least 16 countries have directly benefited from Saudi Arabia's food aid offered through the WFP. The Kingdom is second only to the United States in contributions to the program.