Omani farm output jumps 1.8%
"Agriculture is yet to contribute significantly to the overall GDP as Oman is geographically located in an adverse climatic zone", says the Annual Report 2013 of Central Bank of Oman.
The share of agriculture and fisheries together in GDP increased marginally to 1.3 per cent in 2013 as compared to 1.2 per cent in the previous year. According to the target set for the agriculture sector in the Vision 2020, its contribution to GDP is expected to be raised to 3.1 per cent by 2020 with an annual growth of not less than 4.5 per cent.
The government is taking special efforts to develop the agricultural and fisheries sector with additional allocation of funds to this sector, construction of new markets, improving marketing of products and providing product specific support to the producers.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MoAF) conducted Agricultural Census 2012-13 to help planners and researchers by providing information about projects and programmes to prepare long term strategies to develop the sector.
The results of the Agricultural Census 2012-13 was announced in April 2014. The census indicated that all economic indicators for agriculture and fisheries sector have shown positive growth. The total area of agricultural holdings increased by 9 per cent to 355,010 acres in 2012-13 as compared to 324,389 acres in 2004-05.
The number of Omani workers from among families owning farms was 237,251 in 2012-13 higher by 54 per cent over the number of workers in 2004-05. The number of Omanis working on farms, apart from owners, was 18,522 -- a rise of 22 per cent from 15,213 in 2004-05.
Source: zawya.com
