Sultanate’s largest date farm to go organic

Muscat, Dec 20 - A farm in Ibri is set to go organic. Masrooq farm, the largest date palm farm in the Sultanate, will adopt the organic form of cultivation. The plan is part of an effort to grow alternative food without using pesticides, fertilisers, antibiotics or growth hormones. Expected to emerge as the largest organic farm in the world, producing 10,000 tonnes of organic dates every year, Masrooq will plant 100,000 palms on an area of 6.4 million square metres. The farm has been accredited by Germany’s National Accreditation Body and Egyptian Center of Organic Agriculture to operate as the first organic farm in the Sultanate and the region. Organic farming is an alternative agricultural system that relies on fertilisers such as compost manure, green manure and bone meal. Zainab al Nassri