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Salalah: The Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning on Wednesday signed 40 usufructs to carry out food security and wheat production projects in the Governorate of Dhofar.
The agreements constitute part of the ministry’s programmes to support the agricultural sector in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources.
The agreements were signed by Dr. Khalfan Said Al Shuaili, Minister of Housing and Urban Planning, in the presence of HH Sayyid Marwan Turki Al Said, Governor of Dhofar, and Dr. Saud Hamoud Al Habsi, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources.
The agreements included 37 contracts for wheat cultivation in Al Najd agricultural district in Dhofar Governorate, on an area of 28 million sqm to the tune of OMR5.5 million. This is in addition to 3 contracts covering tissue culture and plant nurseries in the wilayats of Salalah and Barka. These had an investment value of OMR3.5 million and they cover a total area of about 93,000 sqm.
So far in 2023, a total of 30 usufruct contracts worth about OMR1,050,000 were signed for investment in farming lands affiliated to the Office of Al Najd Agricultural Area Development. They deal with a total area of about 1,260,000 sqm.
Earlier this year, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning signed 6 usufruct contracts to establish agricultural projects in four Omani governorates. The contracts had a total value of more than OMR32 million and the projects cover an area of more than 3 million sqm.
In the Governorate of South Al Batinah, a contract was signed to establish a honey bee museum in the Wilayat of Barka on an area of more than 12,000 sqm.
The contract, worth OMR1,250,000, provides for the setting up of an exhibition, museum and honey bee institute with different integrate sections, including main trees that provide a suitable habitat for the honey bees.
Another contract was signed for soil enrichment in the Wilayat of Barka, with a total value of OMR180,000. The project, which covers an area of more than 40,000 sqm, seeks to provide a solution to the problem of environmental pollution, mainly by collecting harmful palm waste and utilizing it to make products that compete with similar imports.
In the Buraimi Governorate, a contract was signed to plant 50,000 palm trees of different varieties on an area of more than 2 million sqm. Set up to the tune of OMR3 million, the project was aimed at enhancing food security.
To enhance the quality of agricultural produce, a contract was signed in the Governorate of Al Dakhiliyah for the establishment of an organic agriculture project, specifically to produce pomegranates in the Wilayat of Al Jabal Al Akhdar. The project covers an area of about 121,000 sqm and the investment was worth more than OMR294,000.
In the North Al Batinah Governorate, a contract was signed to produce and market banana crop in the Wilayat of A’Suwaiq. The project covers an area of about 267,000 sqm and the investment was worth more than OMR446,000. The project is aimed at supplying the local and foreign markets with the finest types of bananas. It constitutes a step forward to enhance the food chain and to grow bananas by using modern agricultural techniques.
The agreements stem from the government’s keenness to diversify sources of food security, realize optimal investment of lands and raise the efficiency of their use within the objectives of Oman Vision 2040.
