Deputy Ministry forLand and Geospatial Information

Overview

• Capacity-building in the field of conducting surveys and producing maps;

• Producing nation-wide maps for lands utilization, to enforce the Royal Decree no. 44978 dated 21-8-2012;

• Producing a general map for the lands and natural resources in the domain of the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture (MEWA);

• Producing and updating maps of the agricultural lands and natural resources and converting them to formats that match the geographical information systems;

• Building a comprehensive information system for agricultural lands (Ag – lis).

• Preparing the logical design of Lands Information system and displaying the design in Unified Modeling Language (UML);

• Preparing the physical design of the system;

• Collecting different required information on the national level;

• Drawing a firm conversion plan for spatial data, available at MEWA or its branches, to the database of the new system;

• Choosing the design by creating a prototype to ensure safety and integration of previous work based on a sample data, as this step will guarantee system readiness;

• Entering actual collected data, operating system and building the suitable applications.

• Conducting data conversion, by digitizing MEWA paper documents;

• Joining the National Committee for Geographical Information Systems formed by the Royal Decree no. 388 on 6-12-2010;

• Coordinating with the government bodies and authorities related to surveys and maps;

• Determining suitable means for connecting the general departments concerned with the agricultural affairs to the new MEWA geographical information system (GIS), so that they get to utilize the data of the system, besides updating the system with the information available at these departments; and

• Effectively participating in documenting agricultural holdings through the registration system to curb encroachment on agricultural land.

Tasks and Responsibilities

• In line with the tasks hierarchy system in the agricultural sector referred to in clause (3-3), tasks and responsibilities of activities of surveys and maps in different organizational levels were distributed as follows:

• Central Level: The General Department of Survey and Maps in the Central Authority is responsible for producing foundation maps, providing aerial images and establishing spatial information and data system for agricultural lands and natural resources nation-wide. It's also responsible for developing policies, programs and plans needed to achieve this target, as well as organizing, following-up, evaluating and improving survey works in the agricultural sector to meet the agricultural development requirements.

• Regional Level: Survey divisions in the general departments of agricultural affairs in different regions are responsible for designating and surveying barren lands and agricultural development projects. They are also responsible for supervising and following up surveys, creating database of lands and agricultural resources data on the regional levels, through merging lands databases in different branches of the agricultural authorities, in coordination with competent authorities in MEWA General Department of Survey and Maps and the relevant regional authorities.

As for surveys and maps in agricultural departments, the advisory board suggests reconsidering their importance because they are not related to a definite spatial domain that gives them jurisdiction over lands and natural resources.

• Local Level: Survey units in local branches undertake designating and surveying agricultural lands and preparing survey maps and documenting them in spatial databases according to the regulating criteria and specifications.

• Central Authority: In addition to the above mentioned tasks and responsibilities, objectives of the survey sector may be identified as follows:

Mission: Purpose and Scope of Work

Providing survey services and producing high-quality and accurate maps and spatial information systems for the agricultural sector all over KSA. This will be achieved through reliance on national qualified professionals, as part of the effective cooperation with all national authorities to contribute to sustainable agricultural development.

Vision: Future Outlook

Marking out and surveying agricultural lands and natural resources according to the best and latest international practices, providing the required database for establishing an information system for agricultural lands; and continuously improving the quality and accuracy of the provided survey services.

Values and Principles

Providing accurate and reliable survey services and spatial data, according to the national criteria that ensure ongoing improvement.

Objectives:

• Conducting comprehensive surveys of agricultural lands in the Kingdom and carrying out all designation, documentation and mapping of these lands;

• Producing maps for agricultural lands, natural resources, soil and lands utilization, as well as all maps required by the agricultural sector;

• Creating and sustaining a database of agricultural lands as a starting point for the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI);

• Setting criteria and technical specifications of survey work and producing maps, geographical information and lands information required by the agricultural sector;

• Preparing and approving agricultural plans and supervising their execution;

• Developing human resources to meet the needs of the agricultural sector in survey, maps production and information fields;

• Determining, organizing, controlling and monitoring surveys, maps production and geographical and lands information collection, in accordance with the national conditions and requirements;

• Creating the needed spatial databases to support and maintain the main functions of the agricultural sector;

• Carrying out aerial survey and imaging of agricultural lands and natural resources;

• Increasing awareness in the agricultural sector in the fields of survey, maps production, geographical information and the relevant fields and knowledge;

• Determining and establishing strategic partnerships that serve the objectives and requirements of survey and maps in the agricultural sector;

• Developing organizational and technical capacities through administrative leadership seeking distinguished performance;

• Pursuing modern technologies in surveys and maps and using them in the agricultural work; and

• Coordinating with all public and private authorities to exchange information and unify criteria and bases.

Overview

The General Directorate of Irrigation Affairs was established by the Ministerial Resolution no. 61766/10/6 dated 5-12-2004, to supervise the organization, planning and follow-up of irrigation and agricultural drainage projects and plans, enforcing laws and regulations, determining water rations and ensuring safety of irrigation water for human health.

Tasks and Responsibilities

• Monitoring available water resources, providing information about them and analyzing them, and taking the required measures;

• Preparing a long-term plan for progressive development of irrigation water resources and following-up execution procedures with the relevant authorities;

• Following up the execution of plans and organizational procedures to ensure high-quality performance;

• Following up analysis of water resources available from different sources and achieving the required balance for preserving its validity for irrigation purposes;

• Conducting the required studies and applied research to ensure quality of the irrigation programs in enriching use of available water resources on soil and quality of plant production;

• Conducting research, studies and field surveys to draw strategy to utilize seasonal rains and rains harvesting techniques to help farmers make use of this resource;

• Conducting studies and research to determine controls over water rations for agricultural products and irrigation practices systems;

• Encouraging and directing research to figuring out drought- and salinity-resistant plant strains;

• Proposing solutions for overcoming different obstacles;

• Technically supervising performance of irrigation sections in the regions, and attempting to develop them and promote professional qualifications of their officials;

• Considering setting criteria and standard specifications that are suitable for the conditions in KSA for use of treated wastewater as a sustainable source for irrigation water to support expansion of its use in the agricultural sector;

• Coordinating with the Undersecretariat of Water Affairs to determine a mechanism for handling citizens licensing requests for drilling wells for agricultural purposes or cleaning and deepening licenses;

• Drawing up plans and practical programs for providing irrigation water, in coordination with the Undersecretariat of Water Affairs and preparing and following up distribution programs to farms located in affiliated service areas in regions and governorates according to the water needs of every farm and following up the implementation according to the regulating procedures;

• Encouraging and guiding farmers to use rationalizing irrigation systems and how to create closed irrigation networks;

• Receiving and examining requests from general departments and directorates in different regions for using treated wastewater in irrigation;

• Intensifying agricultural guidance programs on water to increase farmers awareness with the importance of preserving water resources and activating agricultural cooperatives role in this regard, in coordination with the competent authorities;

• Supporting and encouraging improvement and development fields as to reducing water consumption in irrigation activities, including technical development, and examining suggestions for establishing associations for water users all over KSA;

• The General Department has taken part in the 10th conference of the Saudi Society for Agricultural Sciences that was held in Al-Qassim on 17-18/1438 H, that was titled: Agricultural Trends Towards Using Treated Wastewater for Palms Farms Irrigation in some of the Riyadh Region governorates, and another conference titled: Actual Total Water Needs of Dates Palms in Al-Qassim; The Department also took part in Al-Jenadriyah 31st Cultural and Heritage Festival in 2017, and Jeddah Agricultural Forum 2017.

• The Department has also arranged three training courses in cooperation with the agricultural training centers in Riyadh: the first was titled: Safe Use of Treated Water for Agricultural Purposes; the second was titled: Irrigation Water Management; and the third titled: Irrigation Water Scheduling.

Laws, Legislations and Regulations

• The Water Resources Conservation Law, issued by the Royal Decree no. M/34 on 7-7-1980;

• Cabinet Resolution no. 32 on Vegetables Farms Monitoring Committees; and

• Treated Waster Reuse Regulations and the Bylaw issued by the Royal Decree no. M/6 dated 17-5-2000.

Tasks and Responsibilities:

• Capacity building in the field of surveying and mapping.

• Developing of the land-use map at the national level pursuant to Royal Decree No. (44978) dated 21-8-2012.

• Developing a general map of land and natural resources within the jurisdiction of the Ministry.

• Developing and updating of maps of agricultural land and natural resources and converting them into a format compatible with GIS.

• Establishing Ag – lis system.

• Developing the logical design of the land information system as UML.

• Processing the physical design of this system.

• Data collection at the national level for all information segments.

• Developing a conversion plan to convert the entire Ministry's spatial data into the new system database.

• Selecting the design using a prototype to ensure the integrity of the previous work, on a sample of data, this step will ensure that the system is ready for operation.

• Entering the actual data collected, the system operation, and build appropriate applications.

• Converting the Ministry's textual data into digital data (data conversion).

• Joining the membership of the National Committee for Geographic Information Systems (NSDI)formed by Royal Decree No. (388) dated 06-12-2010.

• Coordinating with the relevant government agencies and bodies.

• Determining the appropriate means to link the general departments of agriculture with the geographic information system in the Ministry so that they can benefit from the data of this system, and allowing them to update the system with the information that they have.

• Effective participation in the documentation of agricultural holdings through the registration system to reduce the encroachment on agricultural land.

Responsibilities & Competencies:

In line with the tasks in the agricultural sector referred to in paragraph (3-3), the tasks and competencies of the survey and mapping activity at different organizational levels have been defined and distributed as follows:

Central Level

The General Directorate of Survey and Mapping in the Ministry is responsible for the production of basic maps, provision of aerial and satellite images, launch of spatial information and data system for agricultural lands and natural resources at the national level, the development of required policies, programs and plans; organization, supervision, and evaluation of the performance and development of cadastral work in the agricultural sector to meet the requirements of agricultural development.

Regional Level

The divisions of the Survey and Mapping general directorates of agriculture in the regions undertake the task of identifying and surveying wastelands and agricultural development projects, supervising and following up the implementation of the survey work, and establishing the database of agricultural lands and resources at the level of the region by integrating the land databases in the various agriculture branches in the region in coordination with the concerned division in the general department of maps and survey and the relevant bodies of maps and survey in the region.

Local level

The survey units of the agriculture branches at the local level undertake the task of identifying and surveying agricultural lands, prepare survey maps and document them in spatial databases in accordance with the regulating standards and specifications.

Central Body

In addition to what was discussed in the previous paragraph on the tasks and competencies, objectives of the survey sector in the Ministry as follows:

Mission: Purpose and Scope of Work

Providing survey services and providing maps and spatial information systems for the agricultural sector at the national level with high quality and accuracy through qualified national manpower in the framework of effective cooperation with all concerned national sectors to contribute to sustainable agricultural development.

Vision: The Future Perspective of the Situation

Identify and survey agricultural land and natural resources in accordance with the best international practices, provide the required database for the establishment of agricultural land information system, and continue to improve and develop the quality and accuracy of survey services provided to service recipients.

Values and Ideals

Reliable survey services and accurate spatial data, which depends on national standards to ensure continuous improvement.

Objectives

• Conduct a comprehensive survey of agricultural land in the Kingdom and undertake all identification, documentation and mapping concerning it.

• Developing of agricultural land maps, natural resources, soil, land use and all maps required by the agricultural sector.

• Developing and sustaining the agricultural land information base as a core nucleus in the national spatial data infrastructure NSDI.

• Setting standards and technical specifications for survey work and producing maps, geographic information and land information required by the agricultural sector.

• Preparing and approving agricultural plans and supervising their implementation.

• Developing human resources to meet the needs of the agricultural sector in the areas of surveying, map production and information.

• Identifying, organizing, controlling, and monitoring of cadastral work, production of maps, and geographical information and land information in accordance with national requirements throughout the ministry.

• Establishing the spatial databases necessary to support and maintain the basic agricultural sector tasks.

• Carrying out aerial photography and survey of agricultural lands and natural resources.

• Raising public awareness in the agricultural sector in the areas of surveying, maps and geographic information, and related disciplines.

• Identifying and establishing strategic partnerships that serve the objectives and requirements of survey and maps in the agricultural sector.

• Continuous improvement and development of organizational and technical capabilities through forward-looking management leadership for performance excellence.

• Follow-up on modern technologies in maps and survey and introducing them into the agricultural work environment.

• Coordinating with all governmental and private bodies and agencies in exchanging information and unifying standards.

Agency Responsibilities

Departments

Agency Topics

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