Plan to check soil erosion, protect Aflaj system
Times News Service IBRA: A project to check soil erosion and protect the Aflaj system in the villages of Oman is being implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries at a cost of OMR6 million.
This information was shared at a seminar titled ‘Aflaj: Cultural Heritage and Development Necessity’, which began on Monday in Ibra wilayat, of the North Al Sharqiyah governorate.
The two-day seminar has been organised by the Omani Water Society (OWS).
Dr Ahmed bin Nasser Al Bakri, undersecretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, inaugurated the seminar with the participation of more than 160 experts and officials from concerned institutions and citizens in the governorate.
Zahir bin Khalid Al Slimani, chairman of OWS, said that the seminar aims to highlight the Aflaj systems, their historical and cultural role, ways of developing them, and establishing a platform to bring experiences and exchange ideas in the field of Aflaj management and sustainability of their water. The seminar also wished to identify the social, agricultural, economic and tourism role of Aflaj in the overall development of the Sultanate.
Dr Ahmed bin Nasser Al Bakri said that the Sultanate has more than 4,000 Aflaj systems catering to 40 per cent of agricultural land in the villages that depend on Aflaj water for irrigation, in addition to 5 Aflaj systems that are in the world heritage List, while noting that what was said in the seminar today reflected and confirmed that Aflaj systems are a historical legacy of the Sultanate and the Omanis.
He said that the ministry is also constructing protection walls in Aflaj-based villages to prevent soil erosion, and ensure the sustainability of the Aflaj system, adding that 6 kilometres of walled protection were built in the past five years, at a cost of OMR6 million and these projects have reflected positively on the Aflaj maintenance system, raising their efficiency and the sustainability of the agricultural land in the villages.–