They have a long way to go. The lack of modernity is a problem that helped motivate the NEOM project, but ironically, trying to build that made those problems worse and will probably continue to.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_supply_and_sanitation_in_Saudi_Arabia#Service_quality
Along their Red Sea coast, the Saudis have been experimenting with brackish water irrigation, using seawater-tolerant plants, but those are not food plants, it’s about general refoliation. A quick search didn’t turn that up, but I have watched a legit documentary about it.
With this search, I found a lot about a couple of different projects which are no doubt buried in YouTube hyperbole:
saudi arabia seawater irrigation
https://search.brave.com/videos?q=saudi+arabia+seawater+irrigation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkL_BXs-n9E
https://www.salon.com/2012/06/10/will_the_middle_east_starve/
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2015WR017349
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/10/4189
https://revealnews.org/article/what-california-can-learn-from-saudi-arabias-water-mystery/
and
https://search.brave.com/search?q=saudi+arabia+arizona+water&summary=1
https://search.brave.com/videos?q=saudi+arabia+arizona+water&source=web
https://search.brave.com/search?q=growing+crops+with+seawater&summary=1
https://search.brave.com/search?q=growing+crops+with+seawater+arabia&summary=1
“They have a long way to go.”
True, but they also come a long way since the prince took over from his father.
And with him having absolute power he can move things much faster and he’s doing that both culturally and infrastructure. Women are getting more freedoms under him and he’s building modern cities. Basically, he’s going the way of the emirates - Dubai Qatar, etc.