Friday 26 / July / 2024
Muscat: The Omani Bioproducts Company intends to support the construction of a factory for the production of animal feed and aquatic organisms, which the company is establishing in three phases in Khazaen Economic City, at an investment cost estimated at OMR 37 million, as part of the efforts made by the Sultanate of Oman to enhance food security.
The tender for the construction work of the factory was issued in June of this year, and it is expected that the construction work for the project will be awarded before the end of this year. Nine local companies competed for the construction work, while the project’s equipment and machinery began arriving.
The project aims to benefit from agricultural and biological by-products, transform them into specialized value-added products, and recycle date by-products, which include date kernels, pulp, and palm fronds.
The project will produce about 100,000 tons annually of alternative grass feed made from agricultural residues enriched with dates, and about 300,000 tons annually of marine life feed such as shrimp and fish cultured in cages.
The project will use locally available raw materials to cover the needs of newly established food security projects in the fields of red meat, dairy products, aquaculture and marine agriculture, in addition to serving the export market.
Haitham bin Shakhbout Al Saadi, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Omani Bioproducts Company, said that the project comes within the framework of the company’s endeavour to contribute to achieving the goals of the “Oman 2040” vision by employing the concepts of the circular and bio-economy and taking advantage of the raw materials available in the local environment and using them to produce a group of products, Animal feed, aquatic organisms and their raw materials in an economical, sustainable and environmentally friendly manner.
It is noteworthy that the Omani Bioproducts Company was established in partnership between the Nakheel Oman Development Company and the Omani Mills Group, which are affiliated with the Oman Food Investment Holding Company group. It is a model of joint work between companies owned by the Oman Investment Authority, as it works in strategic partnership with the Omani Environmental Services Holding Company “Be’ah” and with the support of the Ministry of Agricultural Wealth, Fisheries and Water Resources.
