The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Water Resources Oman has signed four agricultural investment agreements worth over RO12 million ($31.21 million), official sources have said.
Oman’s Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Water Resources, Saud Hamoud Al Habsi signed the agreements with investors at the ministry on Thursday, December 16, said the sources.
The first agreement was to establish an integrated farm to produce vegetables and plants using modern agricultural technologies such as greenhouses.
This project would be established in the Wilayat of A’Suwaiq, at a cost of RO600,000 ($1.56 million) on an area of 50 feddan (around 52 acre).
The estimated production is 1,500 tons of vegetables and medicinal plants annually.
The project is expected to also include establishing modern industries for producing medicines.
The second agreement is the thyme planting project that will reportedly be built on an area of 10 feddan (10.37 acre) in the Wilayat of Al Kamil wa Al Wafi.
The project is expected to establish an integrated farm to produce the local Omani thyme using modern agricultural systems and smart technologies at a cost of RO344,000 (around $895,000).
The third agreement is a project at a cost of RO 100,000 to establish a rabbit-breeding farm on an area of 3 feddan (3.11 acre) in the Wilayat of Sohar.
The project is expected to breed and produce rabbits using horizontal cages to supply the local market with white meat from sources other than poultry with the high nutritional value of proteins and fibers.
The annual production is expected by the Sallan Industrial Investment Company to reach 14,400 rabbits.
The fourth agreement is said to be a livestock and fodder cultivation project in the Wilayat of Mahdah.
The project reportedly aims to raise and fatten Omani livestock and other breeds with an intensive breeding system for red meat production to increase animal production and improve local meat quality.
The project is expected to produce 22,000 tons of meat. It also targets the production of fodder and by-products.
This project, worth RO11,387,000 ($29.62 million), will be on an area of 574 feddan (around 596 acre).