14 September 2026, 13:55 UTC

Oman Completes 493 Agricultural Projects Worth 1.87 Billion Rials Under Five-Year Plan

Oman's Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries Wealth and Water Resources carried out 493 investment projects worth 1.87 billion Omani rials during the Tenth Five-Year Plan for 2021–2025. The 2025 portfolio includes a sugar refinery with 1 million tonnes of annual capacity, a 48,000-tonne feed mill and a wheat expansion programme that produced 10,128 tonnes across 8,327 feddans.

Oman's agricultural sector carried out 493 investment projects with a combined value of 1.87 billion Omani rials under the Tenth Five-Year Plan for 2021–2025, according to the annual report of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries Wealth and Water Resources for 2025, cited by Argaam. The programme covers plant production, model fields, wheat cultivation, tissue-culture nurseries, plant health measures and pest control.

Processing capacity added in 2025

Three industrial projects account for most of the new food-processing capacity commissioned during the year:

An animal and aquatic feed plant with capacity of 48,000 tonnes of livestock feed and 15,000 tonnes of aquafeed. The project is designed to draw investors into recycling crop residues into higher-value feed, widening domestic feed supply and cutting import volumes.
A sugar refinery with annual capacity of 1 million tonnes, aimed at localising food manufacturing, covering domestic demand and supplying exports.
A food industries centre with capacity of 1.4 million units per year, adding processed lines and new versions of traditional and farm food products for the local market.

The ministry is also running an agricultural cities initiative intended to attract domestic and foreign investment into integrated production zones with modern infrastructure. In North Al Batinah the initiative covers Sohar Agricultural City at 11,905 feddans and Madain Al Suwaiq at 2.4 feddans. In Dhofar it includes Najd Agricultural City "Al Mazyona" at 9,524 feddans and Najd Agricultural City "Thumrait" at 13,095 feddans, while North Ash Sharqiyah hosts Madain Al Mudhaibi at 2.4 feddans, as reported by Argaam.

Wheat programme output

The wheat expansion project for the 2025/2026 season involved 2,183 farmers, a planted area of 8,327 feddans and output of 10,128.341 tonnes. Production is heavily concentrated in a single governorate.

Dhofar: 51 farmers, 6,400 feddans, 7,723 tonnes.
Adh Dhahirah: 598 farmers, 759 feddans, 1,118 tonnes.
Ad Dakhiliyah: 1,032 farmers, 746 feddans, 877.185 tonnes.
Al Buraimi: 80 farmers, 196 feddans, 269 tonnes.
North Al Batinah: 161 farmers, 81 feddans, 85.3 tonnes.

The remaining governorates contributed smaller volumes: South Al Batinah recorded 108 farmers on 98 feddans with 17.424 tonnes, North Ash Sharqiyah 129 farmers on 25.5 feddans with 34.723 tonnes, South Ash Sharqiyah 16 farmers on 16.5 feddans with 2.264 tonnes, Muscat five farmers on 4.13 feddans with 1.3 tonnes and Musandam three farmers on 0.48 feddans with 0.145 tonnes.

Planting material and nurseries

Under the economic model fields programme for palm and fruit varieties in the 2025/2026 season, 18,119 tissue-culture and vegetative date palm offshoots were approved for distribution. The Fardh variety accounted for 12,342 offshoots, followed by Khalas Al Dhahira with 3,036, Bunaranja with 1,795, Khalas Oman with 468, Barni with 257 and Majhoul with 221.

Fruit seedlings approved for distribution under the same programme totalled 40,541. Grafted mango made up 15,000 seedlings and Omani lime 13,000, with 3,700 fig, 3,030 Adalia lemon, 2,911 papaya, 1,800 guava and 1,100 grafted sidr.

Quarantine and pest control

Plant health and quarantine work in 2025 covered laboratory analysis of 28,222 samples from inbound and outbound agricultural shipments, along with 40,474 permits issued for imports of plants and plant products. Authorities sent 51 international notifications on non-compliant incoming consignments. Imported agricultural shipments reached 2,044,631 tonnes, against 1,226,685 tonnes of agricultural exports.

The dubas bug control campaign treated 35,913 feddans in total: 20,651 feddans against the spring generation using helicopters, 7,340 feddans against the spring generation using drones, 3,459 feddans of autumn-generation ground spraying and 4,462 feddans of autumn-generation drone treatment. Under the red palm weevil programme, 23,256 infested palms were handled, of which 5,120 were removed and 18,126 treated.

Expert commentary

“Oman's wheat programme produced 10,128 tonnes in the 2025/2026 season, against 2.04 million tonnes of agricultural imports in the same year. That ratio sets the frame: wheat here is a pilot, not a supply source. The interesting detail is where it actually works. In Dhofar, 51 farmers worked 6,400 feddans and delivered 7,723 tonnes — roughly 76% of national output from a little over 2% of the participants. In Ad Dakhiliyah, 1,032 farmers split 746 feddans and produced 877 tonnes. One is a mechanised block, the other is thousands of plots too small for a combine. Scaling Omani wheat means more Dhofar-type blocks, and the tractors, seed drills and harvesters that come with them.

Pest control shows the same equipment shift. The dubas campaign covered 35,913 feddans, of which drones handled 11,802 and helicopters 20,651. Drones already account for about a third of the treated area, and over fragmented palm groves they are cheaper per hectare and need no airstrip. That share will keep rising.

On the processing side, the 1 million tonne sugar refinery is the largest single asset in the pipeline. A refinery of that size does not run on local cane — it runs on imported raw sugar and sells refined product into export markets, which puts Oman alongside the Gulf's other refining hubs. The 48,000 tonne feed mill is smaller but aimed at a real import bill, turning crop residues into livestock and aqua feed. Total spend of 1.87 billion rials over five years is modest against 2 million tonnes of annual food imports, so import dependence stays intact — the shift is toward processing margin, not self-sufficiency.”

Mei Tanaka

Senior Machinery & Automotive Analyst