Econometric Comparative Study of the Functions of Egyptian and Saudi Agricultural Production

The agricultural output is One of the most important components of total output that have an impact on economic growth in any economy, Due to the unavailability of capital data in the agricultural sector for a long period of time there have been difficult to estimate the total agricultural production functions in the Arab countries, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia, Therefore, the current research aimed generally determine the extent of the contribution of each component of the production factors in the production process and how to take advantage of those factors, Relying primarily on detailed data for production inputs in the agricultural sector prepared by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), The study relied primarily on a statistical analysis tools for the descriptive and quantitative where they were building a standard model to estimate the total production function of the agricultural sector in Egypt and Saudi Arabia during the period (1980-2012) using the cobb- Douglas function, The results of the study showed that the average value of agricultural production reached about 8.5, 14.2, 20.9 billion $ during the period (1980-1990), (1991-2000), (2001-2012), respectively, in Egypt, compared to about 1.6, 2.6, 3.4 billion $ annually on average during the same periods, respectively in Saudi Arabia, While the average fixed agricultural capital reached 24.3, 31.6, 36.5 billion $ during the period (1980-1990), (1991-2000), (2001-2012) in Egypt compared to 15.7, 23.0, 23.7 billion $ in the Kingdom during the same periods, respectively, As for agricultural employment it stood at an average of 6704.7, 6169.0, 6351.0 thousand workers during the periods (1980-1990), (1991-2000), (2001-2012) in Egypt compared to 1133.5, 802.0, 578.6 thousand workers per year in Saudi Arabia during the same periods, respectively, Results of the study also showed that agricultural land area of approximately 2.5, 3.2, 3.5 thousand hectares during the three periods in Egypt compared to about 2.6, 3.7, 3.6 thousand hectares in Saudi Arabia during the same periods, respectively.
The study showed that the explanatory variables are the most influential on the value of Egyptian total agricultural production is agricultural employment, the area of agricultural land, and the factor of time, While showing that the explanatory variables are the most influential on the value of Saudi total agricultural production is the value of fixed agricultural capital, agricultural labor, and the factor of time, So the study recommends to follow a set of production policies are: improving agricultural investment climate, development of agricultural productivity per unit of land and water, availability of production inputs at reasonable prices, attention to human resources development.