Oman's fruit factory

The picture that you see here is a famous spot in Jebel Akhdar, captured in photographs a million times or maybe more. Five little villages dotting a serene valley that rises steeply, sometimes jagged, sometimes straight, in shades of brown, green, ashen grey, to reach a height of over 2,000m above sea level.

Photographs over the recent years show a particular colour diminishing. Green. As eyes scan the terraced farms, this colour seems to be climbing upwards leaving the lower steps bare, an unclothed sandy brown. It is a slow, unhurried and reluctant climb because it seems to want to stay, and grow and give itself a resplendent stretch across the valley.

It seems the mountains want to remain tamed at the hands of the farmers here who turned its rocky face into a lush paradise over the centuries and are still at the task. And, it hasn’t been an easy job if one just considers the terrain. It has got even tougher as the recent challenge has been little water from the heavens. But, there is no problem farmers here cannot face and come out smiling.

Less water and tough terrain haven't been a deterrent for them and, the fruits of their toil have been sweet, and many. Mediterranean fruits are as abundant as the rotund red-pink pomegranates that hang in hundreds from trees each season.

Because there is a seasonal cycle to these crops, most of the 600-plus farmers here don't really have to choose which one to grow. They are enjoying the bounties from most of these. New fruits are being added and the government is party to this change in the game. The government is doing all it can to help farmers adapt to changes in the climate and the market. The recent addition to the long list of what these mountains produce - roses, apricots, peaches, walnuts, figs, pomegranates, grapes, pears and apples - has been olives.

As it does with lemon, grapes, oranges and pomegranates, the Ministry of Fisheries mid Agriculture's (MoAF) research centre in Jebel Akhdar distributes free olive saplings. It is not just the saplings that are free, but bottles for oil and extractor, too. "Last year the olive yield was great. The ministry expects that in the near future, it will go past the production of pomegranates." says Salim al Toobi, head in of MoAF's research centre here. The desalinated water that is being pumped up the hills is not really supportive for the kind of crops that are grown here and can only meet household and drinking needs. People in these mountains want to continue farming and hope a solution to the water problem is found soon.

“The problem of less rain can only be solved by Nature and we are doing what we can by trying out new methods of irrigation,” says Toobi. The latest technique, he says, has been laying a network of pipes lo the farms from a central reservoir filled by wadis and falaj. A pilot project in Hail Yemen village, which was facing water scarcity for irrigation, has been successful.

A walk through the village is testimony to this claim. Each tree is laden with fruit of the season. Coloured plastic crates brimming with fruit wait in beds of pick-up vehicles to be taken to the market. Cheery children gather in groups on the roadside, selling apricots, walnuts, rose water and olive oil.

On the research centre’s grounds itself grow three varieties of luscious pears and five kinds of apples. On the top branches of olive tree, fruits are turning black while green ones peek from under the foliage. Grapes hang from vines and ruby-red seeds glint through slits in pomegranate skin. These grounds are a miniature version of what lies beyond its boundaries.

Salim bin Khalfan has been around long enough to speak in detail about the changes farming in these mountains has seen. Ask him his age, and he won’t be able to put a number to it. ”Seventy-five, maybe 80 years.” But he is sure about one thing that farmers of Jebel Akhdar are not going to quit, whatever the challenges from Nature. Despite lack of water, production has not dipped.

Khalfan shades his crinkled face his hands and looks towards this little patch of farm – ten pomegranate trees each of which bears 150 to 200 fruits a season. “My children own more trees. The trees were planted for them by the government.’’ The farmer pays back just RO1 every year for each tree planted by the government. This does not count at all if one looks at the profit farmers make from this fruit alone.

“A fruit, depending on its size, sells for anything between RO1 and RO2.5. They are costlier in souqs. The government has been helping us in every way,” says Khalfan. Pomegranate saplings are sold for 500bz at the agriculture research centre. MoAF’s job does not end with sapling distribution. It has taken a more sustainable approach. As each fruit crop is prone to pests and diseases, MoAF teams regularly supply pesticides and carry out aerial spraying. And, help is not just limited to profitable produce.

Beauty can be a burden too. Jebel Akhdar draws thousands of visitors all year round. The crisp mountain air, clear skies and cottony tufts of clouds shifting patchwork shadows on the hills five a breath-taking, almost ethereal look to the place. Tourism is an alternative source of revenue, but the farmers wish that tourists understand their limits and show some civility.

“It is disheartening to see one’s fruits of hard work being plucked away. Many tourists just walk into farms and walk out with fruits. Only a farmer can tell you what it feels like,” says Salim Zakwani, a young agriculturist. The Royal Oman Police has put up sign-posts in farms prohibiting such acts by visitors. Some offenders have also been taken to the police station, but overall, it has not had the desired effect. More stringent action is being planned, looking at the projected boom in tourism.

Zakwani has graduated in IT and will someday move to the big city, but his roots remain in Jebel Akhdar. His father owns a business and a fruit farm, too. “We may have alternative professions, but you can never take farming out of us,” he says, echoing the same sentiment as the elderly Khalfan. So, it may just happen that the green on the terraced mountain face spreads across again, and stay there…forever.