what is going on in agriculture business?

[Arabian Princess]

.Samaki, I merged an old discussion that talked about the same issue, I thought that would bring more thoughts to the topic. I hope you dont mind.

What do you think is the future of agriculture in Oman? can be our second industry?
I beleive that it could be but the problem is our weather. We would need to spend alot of money to depend on such an industry .. plus facing competition will be another problem

[Quick Silver]

first let us find water to drink and then let our agriculture dirnk.... I live in bahla and waking up to see our farm dying makes me cry....

[Arabian Princess]

I agree with you ..
Plus, depending on agriculture might cause problems since any small virus could ruien the whole crop.
ok, what other alternative is there?

[Quick Silver]

how about the government starts sending students to do there MBAs and help them start investing.....become something like Hong Kong or Singapore..... cause as far as I know only SQU sends students out for MBAs , and then use them as acadamians...

[mimosa]

Does Oman really need more MBAs? I don't think so. A MBA teaches you how a well-established company or economy is supposed to work. This can be useful. But it doesn't necessarily equip you to set up a new company, it doesn't give you the financial capital, and it doesn't give you the work ethic and entrepreneurial spirit necessary to make something from nothing. Sure, it's a decent qualification, but it;s not a panacea for Oman's economy.


One Omani who can work as a skilled carpenter, plumber, bricklayer, locksmith, electrician, telephone engineer, receptionist, secretary, office junior, or any Omani willing to work hard and train from the lowest position, is worth ten rich kids with MBAs looking for someone to give them a big office. Skills and experience are more important than paper.

But getting back to your question, Princess: I don't think agriculture can be Oman's second industry. Oman has to play to its strengths: Its not a country of rolling green fields, it's a country of mountains, deserts and wadis. There are pockets of good agricultural land, and these are used as they should be. But that is enough. 'Food security' is an outdated concept in a global economy. Oman has no enemies, a long coast with good (and improving) port facilities, and a strong tradition of international trade. Oman does not have to grow all its own food. Look at the Saudi example: They spend millions desalinating water, charge a 'farmer' half what the water actually cost so that he can grow wheat in the desert! This makes no economic sense.

It's a reality of global trade that every country will have winners and losers. If and when WTO regulations are fully implemented in Oman, some Omani businesses and industries will die. Good! They will fail because they are inefficient and a burden on the consumer and the economy. But other industries will flourish.

Which industries can stand next to oil in Oman? Firstly, the other 'natural resource' industries: Gas, mining and quarrying, fisheries, tourism. But why export gas or oil? Better to have secondary industries: petrochemicals, plastics, lubricants, fertilisers: add more value to Oman's raw materials while they're still in Oman. Adding more and more downstream industries and developing other resources is the future. It will also create badly-needed jobs: Not everyone can work for PDO, and nobody is prepared to dig fields.

All of these sectors need to be opened up to foregin investment. Expoloration and development licences issued for mineral exploration, industrial sites identified with utilities and port facilities for foreign investors to build. And PDO needs to be privatised and taxed!

[ReVeLuTiOnAl^]

Agriculture...
No way... to be a second industry in Oman.

First:
less than 10% of Omani lands are suitable for agricultural purposes, but out of this percentage, agricultural lands in Oman are being used unfortunately for other purposes, mainly Housing.
There have been used large agricultural areas in building houses, roads and for other purposes and services. So the problem here relies on the lack of suitable lands.

Second:
Oman is a country with VERY poor resources of water. Rains are rare in Oman, sometimes years pass without a drip of rain. Moreover, even when it rains, the dependency will be put upon ground water which is consumed in short time..so seasonal agricultural might be difficult to use. Even those desalting stations still not even providing the necessary quantity of water for living necessitities such as drinking water, cooking and bathing.

Third:
Oman still doesn't have any special laboratories which can provide great skills, experiments can be done and implemented, no advanced techniques are used except of some very small applications. Laboratories and researches are very important theses days in order to make greater production and savings in both time and costs.

Fourth:
Even those who are big farmers, still there are not enough sources (inputs) of production available. Subsidiaries whether they are from the public of private sector are still not covering the least costs those farmers need and face. So, the need of incentives and subsidiaries such as cach and loans, machines, tractors, seeds, etc.. all of what is important as factors (inputs) of production.

Fift:
Marketing and advertising are totally down and not effective. There is always the need to advertise for your products, tell the people what you produce and describe it, but this is still not seen in our industries in general and not only the agricultural industry.

;)

[Arabian Princess]

Wow intresting discussion brabora, Rev and Mimosa

Well Brabora, I do totally agree with mimosa. We do not need more MBAs coz that might create more "unemployed" high degree people.
I think we need more enterpuneras who will take initiative"ofcourse should come with the help of the government"

As I said before, Agriculture cannot be our second industry, we should look for something that is strong enough to sustain Oman's economy especially that the oil wont last forever. As mimosa suggested that more industries out of our raw materials should be the soloution .. but we should also consider how competitive thies industries could be !!!

Mimosa, you said that if WTO rules would be implmented, some industried will flourish. I dont see it that way, I beleive that the Omani industry would go down because we cannot compete with the west in thier advanced technology, nethier we can compete with the east with thier cheap labor!! so we will end up stuck in the middle!!
I see more investmnet on the business skills of younge enterpuners should be the soloution though. coz small bussniesses do contribute much to the economy.

[mimosa]

Princess,

Oman has no industry, apart from PDO. There are no industries to fail, only parasite trading houses which will have to deliver some added value to survive.

The industries that can flourish through WTO are those in which Oman has a natural advantage. Apart from PDO (and oil is not a free market yet), none of these industries have yet been developed. But they should be: Why go to the expense of making petrochemcials in Japan, with raw materials brought halfway across the World? Oman could do it at a fraction of the cost, be truly competitive, and expand its own internal economy.

Those small businesses you talk about need big businesses to feed on, and PDO cannot continue being the only client in town.

[Equality]

Salam
i am happy to visit the economics sabla, and i can smell alot of money around:D , good luck arabian princess.

being Oman as an agricultural country, what are the reasons behind unutilization of this resources in the business factories, we have coccnut, banana, papaya in salalah, we have dates and many other fruits (rose, rumman, goz, in jabal alakhthar).
is related to the quantities or qualities or unsure of the product availabilities in annual form or what is it?

[Seham]

In my opinion, I would say it is the problem of someone taking the responsibility to quarantee quantity and sustainability rather than quality. But you are right I do think we have huge resources in this regard which can open a big market of opportunities.

[Quick Silver]

Good Land + Attention + X = Productivity (quality & quantity)

Guess what X equals to :confused:



WATER!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Resources!!! yeah right !!!!! :o :o :o :o :o

[IceTea]

I agree with sabal al sabla, in Oman we don't have a good and suitable land and 2nd thing the climate is not suitable for many plants to grow and 3rd we have lack of water. Beside that the outside products which Oman import is cheaper and with better quality, this will make the agriculture business in Oman is not worth it.

[Seham]

Well, I thought Salalah and Aljabal Al-Akhatter don't have a problem with water!

[Arabian Princess]

Well its true, maybe they dont have.
but I guess samaki was talking about a whole oriention of Oman's economy into agriculture. inorder to have a well planned, alot of money should be spent in planing how to use those resources, and having only two regions that could have a possibilty of income I dnt think its worth it.

[IceTea]

Originally posted by Seham
Well, I thought Salalah and Aljabal Al-Akhatter don't have a problem with water!

Seham I will tell u about both, Salalah might not have a problem with the water, but what are u going to grow in salalah beside coconut and banana.

And in Aljabal Al-Akhdar the land and weather are good, but the problem is the water, no water.

[Equality]

sorry icetea, i disagree with you, you have mentioned the factors which make the bussiness in agriculture is feasible in term of the environment.
1. there os no doubt that oman have a huge utilized land based on oman area, you could be right not all the land are suitable for agriculture, but since we have variety of soil types in oman it makes some type of soil is suitabel for a certain type of agriculture, we have cold areas we have hot areas we have semi tropical areas (salalah), these reasons make it ideal.

2. the water is one of the major problem in oman, but there are new systems in irritation which could assisst in lowering the cost of water, and if you look to the cost and the revenue you will see it is ok, of course do not plan for a large scale bessiness project. you can start with a small scale one. then if you can evaluate the profitability how is it? ami going to a large scale or it is fair enough to continue with small one?

3. you are partially right, therefore, it deopnds which product i have to do what king of fruite/veg do i have to produce, taking in consideration seasonal fruite or vegetable and all around the year available fru/veg.
i am living in japan now, and i was shocked in a local market here that they have a vegetable imported from Oman (sweet green papper, and also fasulia), ihave no idea if this vegetables are plated in oman, but i suprised, it is very expensive 3peices by 600 baiza.

i am sure there is international market for oman product, and this will depend to the business man, while for sure and 100% local market will be sueficient.
one of the present problem in oman is the spreading of the diseases in the most important agricultural resources