Gezira is known as an irrigated cotton-producing state as it is a well-populated area that is suitable for agriculture.

The Gezira Scheme was a program launched in 1925 to foster cotton farming.

At that time the Sennar Dam and numerous irrigation canals were built.

Al Jazirah became the Sudan's major agricultural region with more than 10,000 square kilometres (2.5×10^6 acres) under cultivation.

[5] The ongoing War in Sudan that begun in 2023 has caused a refugee crisis in the state, with an estimated 250,000 fleeing the state due to an offensive waged by the RSF on December 15, 2023 by December 18 of the same year.[6].