Muscat: The Musannah branch of the Oman Development Bank (ODB) organised a forum of investment opportunities in the agriculture and fisheries, under the auspices of Sheikh Hamoud bin Hamad bin Salem Al Wuhashi, Governor of wilayat Musannah at Hala Hall of the wilayat. It was aimed at introducing important investment opportunities in these sectors as well as the role of the bank in supporting the farmers and fishermen.
Mubarak Khalifah Al Mairki, director of the Musannah branch of ODB, announced that the this branch of the bank has financed a whopping 536 projects of agriculture and fisheries. The total value of these finance was OMR3 million which is 41 per cent of the total finance provided by the branch.
He said the ODB is committed to the support of this promising sector which corresponds with the directions of the government to support the preferred sectors in the national economy.
the forum was a major opportunity to know the latest methods of using lands in large scale, particularly in the wilayats of South Al Bathina governorate which is known for the quality of its agricultural projects which are increasing the income of the citizens and their living standards.
The agriculture in wilayats of Musannah and Barka’a is considered as mainstay of the citizens and is the main profession of most of the people in the area of the branch.
Engineer Aqil bin Yousef Al Baloushi presented the working paper of the Department of Agriculture and Livestock titled "Supporting Agricultural Supplies". The paper highlighted major agricultural problems and challenges in the Sultanate, mainly water shortage, small area of agricultural land, weak marketing, high water salinity etc.
He said the objectives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries is to take advantage of the modern methods of irrigation, especially reducing water depletion and working on the establishment of a company or a body for agricultural marketing.
Al Baloushi said the support provided by the Ministry of Agriculture to the farmers in the Sultanate, are either for the approach of green houses, or dual protected green houses. The financial support is between OMR2,000 and OMR6,000.
He said that the support is linked with the umbrella of the size of the green houses, as well as there is a huge support for tillers and other agricultural machines.
Mohammed Bin Tariq Al Shanfari, Chairman of the the National Natural Honey Company, also participated in the forum with a paper that highlighted his experience in establishing the first Omani company to produce honey with international standards which can compete locally and internationally.
He also highlighted Oman's competitive capabilities and pointed out that the Omani honey industry possesses promising capabilities and achieves very high revenues. The local market has more than 5,000 beekeepers who produce more than 100,000 bee hives. They produce more than 500 tons of honey produced annually which has a total value of OMR14 million.
He said that his company was vigorously trying to market Omani honey products by his cooperation with the beekeepers of the Sultanate in the area of marketing. He announced that he would establish biggest factory of honey in the Sultanate which would be the second largest in the Gulf. It would be set up in an area of 5,000 square metres and would have the capacity of producing 50,000 bottles per hour.
Engineer Khalid bin Khamis bin Mubarak Al Mukhaini, head of the development of fish farming, in is working paper, highlighted economic advantages of the process of integrated fish farming, importance of fish farming in achieving food security and its leading role in growth of the fish industry in the Sultanate.
He pointed out that the Sultanate has paid special attention to the sustainable and environment friendly development of the sector and has developed a strategy and plans to promote it. It also encourages private sector companies to invest in this area. It has established one fish farming plant and department of fisheries development service, centre of fish farming which provides data and technical information by carrying out applied researches which is considered as an update of the database, as well as scientific research.
The working paper of the Arabian Livestock Company, was presented by Abdul Razzaq Al Lawati. It focused on highlighting the successful models in the area of integrated fish farming, where the work of agricultural reserves and fish farming is integrated. It also mentioned that the ratio of water use is only 5 per cent of the water used in the regular agricultural projects, and the remaining water is reused in the process of integrated agriculture.
He also highlighted the vertical agriculture experience which helped in producing one ton of barley in 45 square metres area. It required less consumption of water less than one per cent of the production of barley with traditional method.
He pointed out that despite the high cost of vertical agriculture, it can achieve good profits within six months, as well as the production of fresh natural feed containing high nutritional value.
At the end of the forum, there was a panel discussion on the agriculture sector and what it can achieve through innovative ideas and methods. The participants were given mementoes for their participation in the forum.
Hamad Al Harthy, Director General of the ODB, presented a complementary shield to Salem Al Wuhashi, Governor of Musannah, which highlighted major achievement of Musannah branch of the ODB.
He also visited an exhibition which was organised on the sidelines of the forum who showcased high quality agricultural products presented by entrepreneurs.
