Muscat – To support farmers and achieve water sufficiency, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources (MAFWR) will implement a modern integrated project to activate aflaj in Buraimi governorate.

Nasser bin Ali al Marshoudi, Director General of Directorate of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources in Buraimi governorate, said, “The ministry will implement several projects in the field of water resources. It will begin by implementing a modern integrated irrigation system for the two aflaj – Al Saarani and Al Buraimi.”

Marshoudi added that the ministry will also plant palm tree seedlings in three wilayats of the governorate.

In 2021, the ministry established a new commercial project in the wilayats of Sunaina and Mahdah, which included the cultivation of palm trees in an area estimated to be about nine acres, and two projects for the cultivation of grapes in the wilayat of Mahdah, which were successfully completed. The Agricultural and Fisheries Development Fund will also establish modern livestock pens to support rural women.

According to Marshoudi, MAFWR is coordinating with the General Directorate of Housing and Urban Planning in Buraimi to allocate investment land in the wilayat of Sunaina for the establishment of projects aimed at improving food security. The ministry has immunised 22,818 heads of livestock so far, and cows will be vaccinated against plague in April.

About the ministry’s efforts to support bee breeders, he said, “The ministry issued 191 licences to bee breeders spread over the governorate. The number of beehives rose to 1,824 and these produced 10,848kg of honey in 2020. The ministry also coordinated with the General Directorate of Housing and Urban Planning in the governorate to allot ten sites for raising bees.”