Oman: Govt to boost wheat output

29 April 2010
MUSCAT: Following a drastic hike in the price of wheat in global markets, the government is mulling offering incentives, and technology, to grow more wheat locally.

Sources say productivity of wheat per unit area has increased from 900kg in 2007-08 to 1,600kg in 2008-09, but the global scenario is not encouraging.

According to International Grain Council (IGC), global wheat production may dip 21 million tonnes to 653 million tonnes in 2010-11 due to a drop in output in the US.

The Sultanate imports 99 per cent of its wheat requirement from countries like Argentina, Kazakhstan, Mexico and Australia.

Sources in the Agriculture Ministry say low wheat production has been a cause of concern for many years but a project recently initiated to increase output is yielding "fairly good results".

Meanwhile, alarmed over the slump in wheat production and rising costs, a ministry official said, "Drought is the most important challenge and efforts are on to address the issue on a war footing."

"The cultivation of wheat under local conditions in the Sultanate needs extensive management with specific programmes and clearly defined objectives.

"A plan to increase productivity is being implemented by farmers in main production areas to achieve sustainability, and thereby increase the wheat acreage," the official said.

According to a recent family income and expenditure field survey of both Omani and expatriate households conducted by the National Economy Ministry, average per capita consumption of flour and related products in the Sultanate was 33.7 per cent.

Lesser wheat acreage
In Oman, the area under wheat cultivation in the eighties and beginning of nineties was 2,000 acres, which has gone down considerably to 800 acres in recent years.

Expansion in yield of other crops and farmers searching of greener pastures -- extra cash -- while abandoning wheat has contributed to declining wheat acreage, according to the Agriculture Ministry.

Incentives
The ministry, in the mid-eighties, had initiated an action plan to enhance production of wheat. Funds for breeding improved varieties and seeds were also made available to farmers for free. However, the project was slow in implementation, and production declined.

"The Ministry of Agriculture provides seeds and machinery free to farmers willing to implement these projects, thus greatly reducing costs and improving quality and providing an important commodity of strategic goods in the markets of the Sultanate as a producer of wheat for domestic consumption," said a senior official in the ministry. -With inputs from Fahad Al Mukrashi

By Aftab H. Kola

© Times of Oman 2010

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