Agriculture:

Agriculture, livestock and fisheries are among the oldest and most important sectors of the Omani economy. They play a vital part in feeding the population, providing employment for large numbers of Omanis and helping to boost the country’s GDP. The Batinah Region has the most date palms, mango and lime trees, while the Governorate of Dhofar has the most coconut palms. Agricultural advice and guidance programmes have been adopted to promote the use of high-quality fertilisers and seeds, modern irrigation systems have been introduced on the farms and 71 barriers have been built to provide protection against wadi floods.

Fisheries:

With a coastline over 1,700 kilometres long, Oman is one of the main fish-producing countries in the region and the fisheries sector is among its most promising sectors. Fishing is one of the country’s oldest occupations. Fish farming is now a growing industry and a fish farming centre is currently being set up, while the quality of the catches is being improved, following the creation of the Fisheries Quality Control Centre. Marketing operations have been streamlined across the country and exports are now better regulated, particularly with regard to certain types of rare, high value fish. Fisheries training centres have been established in al Khabourah and Salalah, data and statistics on the fishing industry have been upgraded and new fishing harbours have been built and equipped with modern facilities; today there are fishing harbours along the Omani coast.

The Seventh Five-year Development Plan (2006-2010) is committed to developing and maintaining the Sultanate’s aquatic resources, ensuring that the fishing grounds and coastal areas are properly managed, regulated and monitored. The Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IORARC)’s Fisheries Support Unit is based in Oman. The unit promotes cooperation between member states in the management of this vital - and renewable – resource.

Livestock:

Following the completion of the camel counting and numbering project in the Governorate of Dhofar,a national strategy has now been introduced to reduce camel numbers, in order to restore the balance between the region’s camels and the natural pastures and increase the amount of water available by reducing the size of the areas used for the production of animal fodder. Phase One of a plan to transfer the fodder farms to al Najd began ,where a new town will be built at a cost of RO19.2 million. The town, which will be amply supplied with water wells, roads and services, will be extended to cover an area of around 30,000 feddans over the next five years, while all the fodder farms, which have a combined area of over 10,000 feddans, will be transferred to the area within the next three years, as a groundwater saving exercise. A company with a capital of RO19.2 million is due to be set up on the farmers’ behalf to implement the project.

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