(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Oman is looking at investing overseas for food production. The sultanate currently produces 39.5 per cent of what it needs and imports the rest. ''Food security is a challenge for countries with water scarcity,'' said H E Dr Fuad bin Jaafar bi Mohammed al Sajwani, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries while speaking to Muscat Daily.
''We try to produce as much as possible in the country; we produce almost 39.5 per cent of our food requirements. We have to import 60 per cent from elsewhere. So, we are looking for countries where we can invest...we are trying in Asia and Africa.'' He said, ''We need to have good ties, good connections and good channels to import the food we require. Food security is also a challenge for countries around us where there is water scarcity.''
According to H E Dr Sajwani, Oman is 98 per cent self-sufficient in dates production and 16 per cent in fruits and vegetables. Major plans are under way to boost infrastructure for further development of the agriculture and fisheries sector, besides a strategic plan for fisheries alone.
As per agricultural census 2012-13, there are 255,000 Omanis working in agriculture and affiliated sectors. ''With 50 per cent of Oman's agricultural land being used for date cultivation, we have appointed a company to conduct a survey regarding the current status of Omani dates and whether we need to establish factories for packing dates and their derivatives,'' the minister had said recently during a Majlis A'Shura meeting.
Talking about livestock wealth, H E Dr Sajwani had said that in the past one and a half years Oman has established 30 veterinary clinics and the number of vets has doubled.
''This means that we are giving more attention to this national wealth to provide food security to the people, besides caring for the agriculture sector,'' he said.&
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