Clover seeds banned over plant deaths

The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries has announced a ban on production, import and export of clover seeds. Dispose of all the available stock of clover seeds, scientifically called as ‘Trifolium alxandrinum L’, within six months, the ministry has said. The directive comes in light of deterioration in some alfalfa farms in the Sultanate, causing huge loss to farm owners. According to the ministry, some farmers procure alfalfa seeds from unauthenticated sources who mix clover seeds with alfalfa as “both have many similarities and are hard to distinguish”. Many plants died on alfalfa fields after a year or two because of “adulteration”. Zainab al Nassri