Abstract
This research identifies the production efficiency of citrus cultivation and estimates the quantity and value of virtual water acquired from the Saudi citrus foreign trade during the 2005-2016 periods. It relied on primary data collected through a questionnaire form that was distributed to a sample of citrus farmers in Riyadh. The most important findings of this study are: (1) citrus production reached 44.87 thousand tons in 2015; (2) Among priority areas for citrus cultivation, Tabuk region was top-ranked, followed by Riyadh, Sharqia, Qassim, and Madinah; (3) in 2015, the import price of citrus exceeds the average cost of the unit produced by 190 riyals / ton, if the irrigation cost of water is included; (4) the re-export of citrus was not in the interest of the Saudi economy during the 2014-2016 period because the import price exceeded the export price,; and (5) the net virtual water value increased from 238.53 million SR in 2005 to 333.84 million SR in 2016 The study recommends the need to expand the production of citrus, especially in the priority areas in citrus cultivation, and this can leads to savings of up to 415.4 million SR for the Saudi economy.