As wheat is a strategic commodity that contributes to food security, its cultivation is receiving all attention from the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MoAF) which supports and encourages farmers, and provides them with seeds of improved high-yielding varieties, as well as modern harvesting machines. 

Wheat is considered one of the main agricultural crops grown in the sultanate, especially in the wilayat of Adam in the Governorate of Dakhliyah, thanks to the Omani farmers’ long-standing association with its cultivation. It is grown in large areas in various governorates of the sultanate. Currently, new types of wheat crops are being cultivated that have been developed by MoAF, with the aim of resisting environmental conditions, such as heat and disease. 

Mohammed bin Khalfan al Mahrouqi, director of the Agricultural Development Department in the wilayat of Adam, said, “The interest in cultivating wheat crop in Adam is old. This year the department distributed 2,300kg of different types of seeds to 16 farms. The cultivated area reached about 42 acres compared to 24 in 2019, and the quantity of seed distributed is over 1,200g.” 

He said that the cultivation of wheat in the wilayat of Adam faces some challenges, the most important of which is the lack of water and sufficient experience for workers in the field, adding that the ministry provides various types of support to grow the wheat from the beginning of its cultivation in November or December until harvesting in April. 

He added, “The harvesting process takes place in April with the use of modern machines that sort grains from impurities with great speed and precision. This is one of the types of support provided by the ministry to farmers throughout the sultanate. 

“Marketing of wheat crop in the wilayat of Adam is done through direct selling from farmers. The price per kilo ranges between 600bz to RO1.”