Riyadh: The Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture launched today the "Agriculture Hackathon,” with the purpose of inspiring and supporting young individuals, developers, and innovators to drive creativity and innovation within the agricultural domain.

The event aims to generate digital solutions, platforms, and applications that intelligently tackle the challenges in the sector, thus fostering a sustainable agricultural ecosystem in alignment with the objectives of Saudi Arabia Vision 2030.

Moreover, the competition, the ministry says, seeks to support agricultural development goals, strengthen food and water security, enhance productivity and quality, optimize supply chain processes, address agricultural challenges, harness modern and emerging technologies in the agricultural domain, and enhance agricultural awareness and education among different segments of society.

The competition is designed for university and institute students, graduates, aspiring agricultural entrepreneurs, individuals with inventive technological ideas in agriculture, enthusiasts, and experts in the field, including programmers.

It revolves around creating innovative solutions for different challenges in two primary tracks: the first is centred on sustainable agricultural development, food security, fishery wealth, promoting sustainable consumption practices, protected cultivation, modern agricultural techniques, water-saving agriculture, and rainwater harvesting.

Meanwhile, the second track encompasses plant and animal health, strengthening disease and pest prevention in agriculture and animal husbandry, and preventing in addition to combating the red palm weevil infestation, according to the Ministry.

Additionally, the Ministry highlighted that the Hackathon competitions present a platform for participants to develop their ideas, demonstrate their technological capabilities and skills, and engage with agricultural experts and specialists.

They will experience a competitive environment, with the top three winners receiving attractive financial rewards of up to SR 300,000, the Ministry noted.

Registration is open from today until September 14, with the Ministry urging interested individuals to visit the link:

https://agrihackathon.mewa.gov.sa/sign-up and follow the necessary steps to complete the registration process.