Biosaline agriculture: Perspectives from oman

Increased salinity in irrigation water due to seawater intrusion has resulted in salinization of large part of agricultural lands in Oman. Government efforts are geared towards restoring water balance to improve groundwater quality with the ultimate aim of leaching the salts from soil profile. Some of these efforts include: controlling digging of new wells and rehabilitation of older wells, construction of recharge dams, reduction of cultivated land, and providing incentives for modern irrigation systems. Research on introduction of salt tolerant crops is also taking place both at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) and Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) research stations. Efforts have also been made to develop mathematical models to predict soil salinity under Omani conditions from readily available data.