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Oman Agriculture
Oman has five distinct agricultural regions. Going
roughly
from north to south, they include the Musandam Peninsula,
the Al
Batinah coast, the valleys and the high plateau of the
eastern
region, the interior oases, and Dhofar region, along the
narrow
coastal strip from the border with Yemen to Ras Naws and
the
mountains to the north.
In the early 1990s, interior farming areas accounted
for more
than one-half of the country's cultivated land. Rainfall,
although greater in the interior than along the coast, is
insufficient for growing crops. Most of the water for
irrigation
is obtained through the falaj system, in which a
vertical
shaft is dug from the surface to reach water in porous
rock. From
the bottom of this shaft, a gently sloping tunnel is dug
to tap
the water and allow it to flow to a point on the surface
at a
lower level or into a cistern or underground pool from
which it
can be lifted by bucket or pump.
A falaj may be many kilometers in length and
require
numerous additional vertical shafts to provide fresh air
to the
workers digging the tunnels and to permit the removal of
the
excavated rock and soil. A falaj requires
tremendous
expenditure of labor for maintenance as well as for
construction.
Because private maintenance efforts during the 1970s and
early
1980s proved inadequate, the government initiated repair
and
maintenance of the falaj system to increase the
quantity
of water available to cultivated areas.
The cooler climate on the high plateau of the Al Jabal
al
Akhdar enables the growing of apricots, grapes, peaches,
and
walnuts. The Al Batinah coastal plain accounts for about
twofifths of the land area under cultivation and is the most
concentrated farming area of the country. Annual rainfall
along
the coast is minimal, but moisture falling on the
mountains
percolates through permeable strata to the coastal strip,
providing a source of underground water only about two
meters
below the surface. Diesel motors are used to pump water
for
irrigation from these shallow wells.
By the mid-1980s, the water table along the Al Batinah
coast
had dropped to a low level, and salinity of the wells had
increased, significantly reducing the water quality. This
was
caused by the combined effect of cultivating land too
close to
the sea and pumping more well water than was being
recharged by
nature, thereby permitting seawater to encroach.
Overfarming and attendant water problems caused the
government to establish the Ministry of Water Resources in
1990
with the mandate of limiting water consumption and
improving
irrigation. A freeze on new wells was imposed in addition
to
delimiting several "no drill zones" in areas where
groundwater
supplies are low. The ministry is also considering the
installation of water meters. Recharge dams are designed
to hold
rainwater in the wadis for a period of time to facilitate
the
trickling of water down into the ground; replenishing
aquifers
have been built mainly in the northeastern Al Batinah
region,
where the groundwater levels are up to five meters below
sea
level.
Apart from water problems, the agricultural sector has
been
affected by rural-urban migration, in which the labor
force has
been attracted to the higher wages of industry and the
government
service sector, and by competition from highly subsidized
gulf
producers. As a result, agriculture and fishing have
declined in
relative sectoral importance. In 1967 the two sectors
together
contributed about 34 percent of GDP; by 1991 they
accounted for
3.8 percent of GDP (see
table 37, Appendix). The
government
encourages farming by distributing land, offering
subsidized
loans to purchase machinery, offering free feedstock, and
giving
advice on modern irrigation methods. As a result, the area
under
cultivation has increased, with an accompanying rise in
production. But extensive agricultural activity has also
depleted
freshwater reserves and underground aquifers and has
increased
salinity.
The area under cultivation increased by almost 18
percent to
57,814 hectares over the period from 1985 to 1990. Fruits
were
grown on 64 percent, or 36,990 hectares, of the area under
cultivation in crop year 1989-90. Dates accounted for 45
percent
of the total area, or 70 percent of the area under fruit
cultivation. Grains such as barley, wheat, and corn
accounted for
19.2 percent, or 11,092 hectares, and vegetables accounted
for
16.8 percent, or 9,732 hectares, of the total area under
cultivation.
In the same five-year period, overall agricultural
production
increased by 3 percent to 699,000 tons. Field crops,
largely
alfalfa, accounted for more than one-half of total
production, or
354,300 tons, a 40 percent increase in the five-year
period.
Fruit production (including dates and limes) was 182,400
tons, up
from 154,500 tons. Vegetable production totaled 162,300
tons, an
increase of almost 50 percent.
Data as of January 1993
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