Abstract
Cultivated land had been multiplied many times in Saudi Arabia in the last decade. Merit thereby was due to the use of agricultural tractors.
The objectives of this study were to determine the distribution pattern of farm tractors among farmers in the country during the period of 1979 to 1990, to determine the power indicator, and to predict the future need for tractor power level and numbers.
Results showed that tractor numbers decreased yearly with an average of 250.4 tractors, and the highest number of tractors were distributed in 1983. Tractor average power ranged between 49.7 kW to more than 80 kW with an average yearly increase of 2.58 kW, whereas power indicator ranged from 2.5 kW/ha to 16.6 kW/ha in the different regions of the Kingdom.
This was due to small parcels of farms, as well as, owning more than one tractor by farmer. Power indicator increased yearly with an average of 0.33 at the country level. Recommendations of this study were: (1) To follow another method for distributing farm tractors depends on average power requirements per unit area for farms. (2) Tractor average power must not exceed 80 kW in the future except for big agricultural projects. (3) Average number of tractors for next decade will be between 1130 to 1485 per year.