Calls are growing for serious consideration of shifting toward crops with high economic value because of their potential profitability and returns for farmers. Agricultural experts support this approach, saying the goal is neither to change crops for the sake of change nor to reduce agricultural production, but to generate greater economic value from every unit of land and water.
اضافة اعلان
The experts told Al-Ghad that in a water-scarce country, the most efficient agriculture is not necessarily the agriculture that produces the largest quantity of crops, but rather that which can turn available resources into the highest possible value, supported by a market capable of absorbing production and providing farmers with a fair and sustainable return.
They said the equation that needs to be achieved is a suitable crop, a real market and value-adding processing using limited water resources foundations on which more efficient and sustainable agriculture can be built.
A structural shift in agriculture
In this context, Dr. Khaled Khreisat, executive director of the Academia-Industry Integration Platform, said high-value agriculture represents a structural shift taking place in global markets, from “traditional agriculture based on vast areas” to “innovative agriculture focused on maximizing the use of available resources.”
Khreisat said this approach rests on three main pillars. The first is the efficient use of scarce resources. High-value crops such as carob, saffron and tropical nuts can generate financial returns five to 10 times higher per cubic meter of water and per dunum compared with traditional field crops.
The second pillar, he said, is integration into precision-processing value chains. The real economic value lies in transforming these crops into inputs for pharmaceutical, cosmetics and functional food industries, such as extracting locust bean gum from carob, which is in global demand and commands high prices.
“The third pillar is meeting the growth of large markets,” he said, noting that creating sustainable export opportunities in hard currency by meeting rising global demand for organic foods and healthy, caffeine-free alternatives has become a priority for the agricultural sector.
Khreisat cited saffron, known as “red gold,” as a successful global example. Countries such as Iran, Spain and Kashmir have demonstrated how to maximize financial value per dunum and cubic meter of water. Saffron is considered the world’s most expensive agricultural crop by weight, with prices ranging from $1,500 to $5,000 per kilogram.
He said saffron’s exceptional economic value stems from its ability to make use of small agricultural areas and skilled labor to harvest its delicate flower stigmas, transforming the crop from one traditionally associated with cooking into a high-value strategic input for pharmaceutical, cosmetics and global fragrance industries.
He also cited tropical nuts, such as macadamia nuts in Australia and South Africa and pistachios in Mediterranean regions, as leading global examples of land rehabilitation through perennial trees with high water efficiency and long-term investment returns.
The profitability of this sector, he said, lies in producing nuts with long shelf lives and strong resistance to export shipping conditions, in addition to the added value generated by extracting premium oils used in skincare products and high-quality food products aimed at markets with strong purchasing power.
Jordanian experiences
Locally, Khreisat said Jordan has witnessed gradual moves toward high-value agriculture, driven by the Kingdom’s geographical conditions and water scarcity. The sector has gone through several major stages, beginning with a heavy reliance on rain-fed agriculture and later shifting to irrigated farming following the construction of the King Abdullah Canal in the 1970s. This enabled expansion in citrus, vegetables and fruit trees such as grapes and olives, followed by the expansion of greenhouses in the 1980s to capitalize on the advantages of the Jordan Valley.
“Despite its export success, marketing bottlenecks prompted the search for strategic crops that do not spoil quickly,” he said. “In recent years, high-value industries have emerged as a key driver under the Economic Modernization Vision 2033 and the National Sustainable Agriculture Plan, with a focus on climate-adaptive crops such as carob and medicinal plants, as well as modern hydroponic farming.”
Khreisat said several successful examples of high-value agriculture have emerged in Jordan, including Medjool dates in the Jordan Valley and southern Badia, which he described as Jordan’s most prominent global agricultural success story. The Kingdom has transformed from a date importer into a producer of the premium Medjool date market.
Jordan now holds a notable share of global demand thanks to the quality of its product, he said, while also redefining the financial value of water through premium extra virgin olive oil and high-specification oils produced in highland and Shafa-Ghoriya areas. The shift from traditional olive oil production toward extracting and packaging high-quality extra virgin olive oil according to international standards has opened broad export channels at preferential prices in European and US markets.
Other examples, according to Khreisat, include medicinal and aromatic plants in Ajloun, Jerash and Salt, as well as successful projects involving the cultivation and collection of sage, thyme and chamomile and linking them to essential-oil production, standardized drying and packaging for pharmacy chains and organic stores. Avocados and pistachios in highland areas and the northern Jordan Valley have also provided successful examples, with many farmers replacing traditional crops with these trees and achieving higher profits per dunum while reducing the risk of rapid spoilage associated with vegetable crops.
Carob cultivation
Khreisat said the carob tree is one of the practical examples of high-value agriculture for addressing water challenges. It has an exceptional ability to withstand drought and grow in marginal and calcareous soils without competing with other crops for scarce water resources. Its true economic value, he said, goes beyond the sale of raw fruit and emerges when it enters food and pharmaceutical processing chains.
The added value of the tree lies in extracting locust bean gum (LBG), a raw material used globally as a stabilizer in pharmaceuticals, food products and cosmetics. Its fruit and syrup can also be transformed into natural, healthy alternatives to chocolate for global organic markets, while its wood and leaves can be used in full, maximizing returns per dunum and turning dry land into a sustainable source of development.
He added that high-value agriculture directly aligns with the Economic Modernization Vision (2022–2033), which places “high-value industries” and agro-processing among the leading drivers of sustainable growth and employment.
“Systematically expanding climate-adaptive crops such as carob and medicinal plants, and adopting smart and hydroponic farming technologies such as berries and avocados, to build downstream processing chains for extracting locust bean gum, essential oils and producing functional foods represents a strategic transformation,” Khreisat said.
He added that the shift would move Jordan’s agricultural sector from traditional production toward an integrated knowledge- and industry-based economy built on genuine partnerships between academia and industry.
Investing in these opportunities not only protects scarce water resources and strengthens food security, he said, but also contributes to import substitution, opens export opportunities in hard currency and creates quality jobs for young people and rural women in the governorates, placing Jordan more firmly on the global map of high-value agricultural and agro-industrial production.
Smart solutions
Agricultural and development researcher Dr. Hassan Al-Asoufi said traditional agriculture that consumes huge quantities of water is no longer a smart solution at a time of drought and water shortages. This, he said, has prompted a shift toward a new type of agriculture known as “high-value crops.”
“By this, we mean cultivating strong and highly profitable trees such as carob and pistachios, as well as medicinal plants,” Al-Asoufi said. “These trees have an extraordinary ability to survive in dry conditions and withstand harsh weather, while also generating excellent financial returns that far exceed their cultivation costs.”
He said this transformation moves agriculture from ordinary production for daily consumption to a genuine investment project that connects farmland with factories producing food and pharmaceuticals, opening the door to exporting premium, competitive local products to global markets.
Looking closely at the carob tree, which farmers now call the “bank of the land,” shows that it is a genuine investment in the future, he said. It is a perennial tree requiring little irrigation, tolerating soil salinity and weather fluctuations, while producing crops used in healthy sugar alternatives and yielding valuable locust bean gum used globally in food and pharmaceutical products.
Al-Asoufi added that establishing agricultural and industrial projects based on these crops, using modern irrigation and smart packaging methods, could enable investors to recover their capital within a few years while producing fresh and processed goods that meet the highest quality standards required for export.
He said the benefits of this transformation extend beyond financial returns, contributing directly to community development and environmental protection, particularly in areas with extensive land and infrastructure ready for investment, such as the southern governorates. These projects and their sorting and cooling facilities would create new, quality jobs for young people and benefit from government support and incentives for investors.
Environmentally, he noted, these trees play an important role in combating desertification, protecting soil and improving the surrounding environment, making them a genuine investment opportunity for those seeking a green and sustainable future that safeguards food and economic security for future generations.
An economic decision
Agricultural and development researcher and expert Eng. Samir Suleiman said crop selection is no longer simply a question of the land’s ability to produce. It has become an economic decision linked to available water, production costs, market demand, processing potential and the value a product can generate for farmers.
Therefore, in a water-scarce country such as Jordan, he said, it is increasingly important to reconsider the crop mix and look for crops capable of generating greater economic returns from available resources.
“The question should not simply be: What can we grow? It should be: What should we grow with the water available, and whom will we sell it to?” Suleiman said.
A crop that consumes large quantities of water without having a stable market cannot be assessed based solely on productivity, he said. Likewise, a crop that requires little water will not necessarily be a successful option if there is no genuine market for it or if it cannot generate an adequate return.
He said the shift toward high-value crops should be based on two key criteria: water-use efficiency and the ability to access a viable market. A cubic meter of water has become an economic resource no less important than land, making it essential to determine the value that can be generated from that cubic meter through the crop it produces.
Suleiman said agricultural crops have traditionally been assessed by asking about productivity per dunum. However, this indicator alone is no longer sufficient. One crop may produce a high yield per unit of land but require large amounts of water to achieve it, while another may generate a good economic return with lower water consumption.
Therefore, evaluating future agriculture requires a gradual shift from the concept of productivity per dunum toward the broader concept of the economic value generated per unit of water.
Agriculture can consequently become more closely linked to water policy, he said, with available water directed, where possible, toward crops that provide the best economic returns while also having genuine market opportunities.
But water efficiency alone is not enough, Suleiman cautioned. It would be a mistake to encourage farmers to grow a new crop and only afterward begin searching for a market for it.
Increasing production without clear marketing channels could turn an agriculturally successful crop into an economic problem for farmers. Planning should therefore begin with the market: What products do consumers need? What industries require these products? What export opportunities exist? And what quantities can markets absorb?
“Once this picture becomes clear, suitable crops can be identified to produce those products, followed by selecting areas with the appropriate climatic and water conditions,” he said.
A model for the approach
Suleiman said carob could provide a good model for this approach. Its advantage is not limited to its ability to tolerate relatively dry conditions, but also extends to its diverse uses and the possibility of transforming it from a raw crop into value-added products such as powders, beverages and syrup.
The success of carob cultivation, he said, should therefore not be measured only by the number of trees or the volume of production, but by its ability to build a value chain beginning with land and water and extending through production, harvesting and drying to processing, packaging and marketing.
The same concept can be applied to a range of crops, trees and plants with economic value or processing and export potential. The objective should not be to focus on a single crop, but to achieve carefully planned diversification based on each area’s capabilities and market needs.
The importance of processing increases when dealing with high-value crops, Suleiman said. Selling a product as a raw material means a large part of its final value is generated outside the farm. Drying, sorting, packaging and processing can increase the product’s value, create new markets and reduce exposure to price fluctuations.
This is where water and processing intersect. The greater the value generated by a product from a given amount of water, the more economically viable the agriculture becomes. Investment in food processing linked to local crops is therefore not an industrial issue separate from agriculture, but part of managing agricultural and water resources more efficiently.
He stressed that any new approach will fail if crop-selection decisions remain disconnected from farmers, who bear the costs and risks of cultivation. Before making a decision, farmers need clear information on production costs, water requirements, the time needed to reach production, expected returns and available markets.
“Introducing any new crop also requires field trials and economic studies before expanding its cultivation, so that it does not become another agricultural trend that eventually leads to oversupply and falling prices,” Suleiman said.
Jordan needs to develop a map of high-value crops rather than simply a list of suggested crops, he said. Such a map should link land characteristics with water and climate conditions while taking into account market needs and processing and export opportunities.
This type of map could help farmers make safer decisions, direct investment toward crops best suited to each area, and provide a stronger basis for agricultural extension, financing, processing and marketing.
Suleiman said the objective of shifting toward high-value crops is neither to change crops for the sake of change nor to reduce agricultural production, but to generate greater economic value from every unit of land and water.
Agriculture that is more efficient in a water-scarce country is not necessarily agriculture that produces the largest quantity, he said, but agriculture capable of turning available resources into the highest possible value, with a market capable of absorbing production and farmers receiving a fair and sustainable return.
“Here, the equation becomes clearer: limited water, a suitable crop, a real market and value-adding processing. These are the foundations on which more efficient and sustainable agriculture can be built.”
Best agricultural options
Dr. Jaafar Al-Wadian, director of the Climate Change Research Directorate at the National Agricultural Research Center, said carob is one of the most important smart agricultural options for areas suffering from drought, water scarcity and soil salinity.
Al-Wadian said carob is among the most drought-tolerant trees. It can survive on limited amounts of water, withstand high temperatures and dry winds, grow in poor soils unsuitable for other crops, requires relatively little chemical fertilizer and can remain productive for decades.
Carob is not merely a single crop, he said, but a complete economic system. Its pods are used to produce carob powder, a healthy alternative to cocoa and an ingredient in food and beverage industries.
“As for the seeds, they are used to extract locust bean gum, which is used in the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries and as a stabilizing agent,” he said. “The carob tree is also highly important for nitrogen fixation, soil improvement, combating desertification, providing shade and supporting biodiversity.”
This diversity means carob does not depend on a single market but opens multiple sources of income through processing, conversion and exports, in addition to its use in traditional and handicraft industries. Its trees also help mitigate the effects of climate change by sequestering carbon.
He said anyone examining global markets would see growing demand for carob and its products, particularly in Europe and the United States, driven by consumers’ growing preference for natural, caffeine-free and fiber-rich products.
This trend requires government support for farmers who shift to carob cultivation, as well as more scientific research to develop high-quality varieties. It is also important to begin establishing local processing industries rather than exporting the raw material.
Al-Wadian said that in arid and semi-arid areas, the choice is no longer between traditional agriculture that depletes water and leaving land barren. Carob offers a third path: high-value agriculture with environmental, economic and social benefits.
It is not merely a crop, he said, but a vision for sustainable development that brings life back to both the land and the people.
Resource: Al-Ghad. Reporting: Abdullah Al-Rubeihat
