Al-Batinah Region Research Articles

Using Bayesian networks (BNs) for mapping stakeholders behaviors in integrated water resource management with a focus on irrigated agriculture in Al Batinah region of Oman

Using Bayesian networks (BNs) for mapping stakeholders behaviors in integrated water resource management with a focus on irrigated agriculture in Al Batinah region of Oman

Examining the Prediction Role of Spiritual Intelligence and Gender in Moral Reasoning

The prediction role of spiritual intelligence in moral reasoning is studied in a sample of 249 students (124 males, 125 females), from 11th grade of government schools in Wilayat Alsuwaiq, in North Albatinah region in the Sultanate of Oman. Gibbs et al., (1984) inventory is used to measure moral reasoning, and King (2008) inventory is used to measure spiritual intelligence. The findings indicate that spiritual intelligence and gender predict moral reasoning, while spiritual intelligence contributes significantly to the total score of moral reasoning as opposed to gender which does not. In addition, moral reasoning does not differ significantly by gender, whereas spiritual intelligence does. Future research is needed to investigate different factors that may have an effect on students’ moral reasoning.

Impact of Home-to-Centre Distance on Bone Marrow Transplantation Outcomes.

ObjectivesHaematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in Oman started in 1994 at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital (SQUH), Muscat, Oman. Previous studies have suggested that longer driving time to the transplant centre (DTC) independently correlates with worse overall survival (OS). Therefore, this study aimed to examine the impact of DTC on OS and acute graft-versus-host disease (aGvHD).MethodsThis retrospective study included all patients who underwent HSCT between February 2006 and December 2016 at SQUH. The DTC was determined using Google Maps (Google LLC., Mountain View, California, USA). The probability of OS was estimated using a Kaplan-Meier estimator and the impact of DTC on OS was compared using a Cox model.ResultsA total of 170 patients were included in this study of which 52% were male and 28% were from the Al Batinah region. The mean age was 14.2 ± 12.2 years. The mean haemoglobin, platelet and white blood cell counts before the HSCT were 10.3 ± 1.7 g/dL, 207 ± 131 × 109/L and 5.1 ± 5.9 × 109/L, respectively. The median DTC for those with aGvHD was 84 minutes, which is similar to patients without aGvHD (P = 0.918). The hazard ratio for DTC as a predictor of OS was 1.0 (P = 0.901).ConclusionIn this single centre study, DTC did not impact aGvHD or OS in patients post-HSCT. The study was limited by its retrospective design and the small sample size. It is recommended that these results be confirmed in a prospective study.

Analysis of crops cultivation trend: a shifting scenario in a coastal Wilayat, Oman

This study presents an analysis on situation of agriculture over recent years in the Wilayat of Al-Suwaiq (administrative unit) which is a part of Al-Batinah Region of Oman. Over the recent years, this area has undergone many changes in terms of increased demand for land and economic development. The aim of this study is to provide information on the situation of cultivation in agriculture with the help of agriculture census database of two different periods. A comparison analysis is carried out using database of years 2004–2005 and 2012–2013. Results of analysis showed that the cropped land holdings area decreased from 2972 ha in 2004 to 2724 ha (decrease of 248 ha) in 2013. Most of this reduction was in fruit trees and date palm which could be attributed to salinity of soils as well as water. Interestingly, vegetable crops area increased from 1139 to 6182 ha (increase of 5043 ha), and this could be attributed to greenhouse farming which generates considerable profits. However, the reduction in area of cultivation by date palms and fruit trees has been a major concern, and proper strategies should be developed toward achieving sustainable development in agriculture sector of Oman.

Farm Workers’ Knowledge, Habits and Health Issues Associated with Pesticide Use

Although pesticides are used to mitigate crop losses by pests, farm workers’ poor knowledge and bad habits during application may cause serious health consequences. This study investigates the knowledge and habits of farm workers in the Sultanate of Oman and how these are related to the self-reported acute symptoms caused by pesticide exposure. A total of 153 pesticide workers in Al Batinah Region of Oman were interviewed face to face about their pesticide knowledge, habits and self-reported acute symptoms. About 57% of the farm workers either had no formal education or had only some primary school education, and 80% had no knowledge of warning labels and the names of banned pesticides. There was a significant difference (p <0.001) in self-reported symptoms among those 20 years or less and those 50 years or older. Among those that did not attend school, 85% reported pesticide related symptoms compared to 55% among those who completed secondary education. Self-medication was the commonly used treatment option (42%), followed by local pharmacy (35%), private clinic (14%) and government hospital (9%). Reduction in pesticide related health symptoms could be achieved by mandatory training of farm workers on the use of personal protection equipment, as well as the enforcement of legislation to restrict the availability of the most hazardous pesticides, and the promotion of non-chemical methods of pest control.

Development of a decision support system for precision management of conjunctive use of treated wastewater for irrigation in Oman

This research aimed at finding alternative options for conjunctive use of treated wastewater (TW) with groundwater (GW) minimizing the irrigation water from aquifers in the Al-Batinah region with the assistance of a Decision Support System (DSS). Oman is facing a three-facet problem of lowering of GW table, wastewater over-production and excess TW. Approved guidelines for use of TW with tertiary treatments are of two classes: class-A (for vegetables consumed raw), class-B (after cooking). The developed DSS is comprised of four management subsystems: (1) data management in Excel, (2) model and knowledge management by macro programming in Excel, (3) with linear programming (LP) optimization models including transportation algorithms, and (4) user interface with Excel or Visual Basic (VB). The results are based on two extreme scenarios: zero TW excess, and zero GW used for irrigation. The DSS could predict water balance for number of crop rotations, and based on adjustable cost variables farmer profit margins could be created. Crop selections and rotation could be done using LP optimizations while transportation algorithm could organize best locations and capacities for treatment plants and the wastewater collection and transportation to farming areas via treatment plants. The developed DSS will be very useful as a water management, optimization and planning tool.

Studying Soil Catena in Arid-zone Environment: Case Study for Soil Science Students

Studing soils under their natural habitat is an important step to understand soil-landscape relationships. Combing ing field-work with laboratory analyses is an important tech- nique for learning about soils and should help students to broaden their understanding of the basic concepts of soil sci- ence and in particular of soil formation. This work provides a detailed procedure for a hands-on educational approach consisting of a field exercise combined with basic labora- tory techniques for studying a soil catena. The work involves field study of physical and morphological properties of soil pedons existing on a soil catena of Al-Batinah region, Oman. Soil samples were collected for laboratory analyses. The paper provides a package of field, laboratory, and data analysis exercise using the concept of soil catena or topose- quence for studying factors of soil formation in an arid-zone environment. Combining field work with basic laboratory analyses maximizes the benefits of studying soil-landscape relationships

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR) ACTIVITIES OF SELECTED COMPANIES AT SOHAR PORT, OMAN

Purpose
 The objective of the study is to investigate into the roles of Corporate Social Responsibility towards the community development of Sohar. This study critically analyzes the current practices of CSR in the selected companies at Sohar Port area, Oman.
 Design/methodology/approach
 The study was carried out with ten selected companies from Sohar Industrial Port area selected on a random sampling basis. 
 Findings
 The study has thrown light on the various activities of CSR carried out by the selected companies in the Al Batinah region of Sultanate of Oman. The study reveals that the manufacturing companies have high inclination towards CSR programs than the other.
 Practical Implications
 Further the study shows that the selection of CSR activities by one company does not have any impact on any other company from the same area. This will induce every company to come up with new CSR activities in to their manifold.
 Social Implications
 The study confirms that the selected companies play significant role through involving them in social responsibility activities resulting in sustained development of Sultanate of Oman.
 Originality/value
 No prior study has examined the CSR activities of the companies at Sohar Port, Oman. This study will pave a way to further scope of study on CSR activities of the companies of Oman.

Personal safety issues related to the use of pesticides in agricultural production in the Al-Batinah region of Northern Oman

The level of uptake and use of personal protective equipment (PPE) by farm workers in Oman is low; the conditions under which pesticides are stored are frequently below acceptable international standards. Research was undertaken to explore the drivers working against safe storage of agrochemicals and effective personal protection usage by pesticide application personnel. Results from a survey of over 200 respondents, representing workers in, and owners of, farms either within or outside a local farmer's association (FA), suggest that FA membership raises standards of behaviour both in terms of safe pesticide storage and use of PPE. Age of respondents had no apparent effect on the likelihood of PPE (gloves and masks) use. PPE use was, however, highest among respondents with more advanced educational backgrounds. Positive responses for glove and mask use, when applying pesticides, were higher for owners and workers in FA farms compared to non-FA farms. Lowest reported use of PPE was among workers in non-FA farms. Analysis of responses appears to indicate that behaviour patterns of workers in FA farms mirror that of the farm owners. This was not the case in non-FA farms. The results suggest that conformity to social norms, in this case acceptable work-environment behaviour, is a powerful driver behind raised usage levels of PPE in farms in Oman.

COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ET-BASED AND SOIL MOISTURE-BASED IRRIGATION FOR AL BATINAH REGION IN OMAN

The agriculture sector in Oman, like in many other countries in the Gulf region, is based on irrigation. While blessed with rich groundwater resources in many parts of the country, Oman’s agriculture is plagued with salinity, and most recently sea water intrusion due to excessive pumping in coastal regions, where the main agricultural land is located. In order to address this issue, monitoring and limiting groundwater use for agriculture has been proposed. While a significant amount of extension effort is under way with limited or no success, this paper is an attempt to study how groundwater irrigation could be made more efficient by applying modern technology, especially, sensor-based precision irrigation in Omani agricultural farms. Even though some farms in the Al Batinah region, the largest agricultural area in Oman, have modern irrigation systems installed, hardly any are automated. As such, the operation of various types of irrigation systems are done manually with little or no attention given to water saving. Since the traditional practice of farmers in the country is furrow (flooded) irrigation, the general tendency of them is to apply more water than required to create flooded irrigation conditions. Wherever irrigation controllers are used, the control mechanism has been based on the evapotranspiration (ET) method, which requires the whole water requirement per day to be applied at once and it is inevitable that the soil gets oversaturated causing higher levels of percolation and evaporation loss. In order to prevent this, a soil moisture-based approach is proposed. This paper presents two models developed based on standard relationships for estimating irrigation requirement using both these methods and a comparative analysis showing the application areas where the soil moisture-based method may provide more water saving. It could be seen that the soil moisture-based method saves water at certain soil moisture levels under different field capacities, especially when the ET-based method may incorrectly suggest unnecessarily high water application amounts due to other environmental conditions.

Quality of diabetes care in primary health centres in north Al-batinah of oman.

Objective: To assess the quality of diabetic care provided in primary health care settings in Oman.Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of randomly selected 500 patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) attending 6 primary care diabetic clinics in the north Al-Batinah region of Oman from January to December 2010. Nine standards on the quality of diabetes care were audited.Results: The mean age of the sample was 51±13 years, ranging from 15 to 87 years; the majority (61%) were females. The mean duration of DM was 4±3 years, ranging from 1 to 18 years. Seventy-seven percent of the patients attended diabetic clinics at least 4 times per year. Of the 9 assessed diabetic standards, HbA1c was documented in 33% of the patients, body mass index in 12%, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in 40%, urinary albumin:creatinine ratio in 28%, creatinine in 63% and blood pressure (BP) in 96%. Optimal control among the documented indicators was noted in 32, 21, 25, 85, 95 and 19%, respectively. Twenty percent of the patients had their ECGs done while only 39% of the patients had foot examination. No patient had attained control in all of HbA1c., BP and LDL-C.Conclusion: There is a gap between the recommended DM care guidelines and current practice with consequent poor quality of care in these patients.

Identification of a disease complex involving a novel monopartite begomovirus with beta- and alphasatellites associated with okra leaf curl disease in Oman

Okra leaf curl disease (OLCD) is an important viral disease of okra in tropical and subtropical areas. The disease is caused by begomovirus-satellite complexes. A begomovirus and associated betasatellite and alphasatellite were identified in symptomatic okra plants from Barka, in the Al-Batinah region of Oman. Analysis of the begomovirus sequences showed them to represent a new begomovirus most closely related to cotton leaf curl Gezira virus (CLCuGeV), a begomovirus of African origin. The sequences showed less than 85 % nucleotide sequence identity to CLCuGeV isolates. The name okra leaf curl Oman virus (OLCOMV) is proposed for the new virus. Further analysis revealed that the OLCOMV is a recombinant begomovirus that evolved by the recombination of CLCuGeV isolates with tomato yellow leaf curl virus-Oman (TYLCV-OM). An alpha- and a betasatellite were also identified from the same plant sample, which were also unique when compared to sequences available in the databases. However, although the betasatellite appeared to be of African origin, the alphasatellite was most closely related to alphasatellites originating from South Asia. This is the first report of a begomovirus-satellite complex infecting okra in Oman.

People’s Perception of Public Transport Services in Oman

The role of public transport services is crucial in ensuring mobility. The Sultanate of Oman has shown a remarkable growth in the last three decades in almost all areas except in the development of public transport infrastructure and services. Currently, Public transportation is a pressing concern for Oman and is attracting much attention, especially in light of increasing traffic congestion and safety concerns. This research followed a public needs assessment and opinion survey approach and covered 2000 respondents in the Al Batinah region of Oman. A quantitative analysis was initially performed using the SPSS, which was later followed by a qualitative analysis. The specific objectives were to conduct a socio-economic feasibility analysis towards the establishment of an effective public transport system in Oman and to study residents’ requirements, sharing habits, traveling behaviors, expenditure and expectations towards public transport in Oman. The study concludes that public transportation in Oman is still in its infancy, and the introduction of a public transport system has taken an unusually long time. People realize the need for a better system, but their knowledge of different transport modes and their use is very limited. People’s attitudes towards using public transport are positive; however, they much prefer to use their own cars. The nearest substitute to the personal car is the taxi, which largely fulfills the role of public transport, barring very few bus lines. On the socio-economic front, this study does not find any major obstacles to the adoption and use of public transportation in Oman.

Recent evolution of a novel begomovirus causing tomato leaf curl disease in the Al-Batinah region of Oman

For last two decades, begomoviruses (family Geminiviridae) have been a major constraint for tomato production in Oman, particularly in the Al-Batinah region, the major agricultural area of Oman. Farms in the Al-Batinah region were surveyed during January-March and November-December in 2012 and January-February in 2013. Leaf samples of tomato plants showing typical leaf curl disease symptoms were collected and analyzed for begomoviruses. Out of fifteen begomovirus clones sequenced, seven were shown to be tomato yellow leaf curl virus strain Oman (TYLCV-OM); three, chili leaf curl virus strain Oman (ChLCV-OM); and one, tomato leaf curl Oman virus (ToLCOMV) - viruses that have previously been shown to occur in Oman. Four sequences were shown to have relatively low percent identity values to known begomoviruses, with the highest (86%) to isolates of pepper leaf curl Lahore virus, indicating that these should be included in a new species, for which the name "Tomato leaf curl Al Batinah virus" (ToLCABV) is proposed. Although the betasatellite tomato leaf curl betasatellite (ToLCB; 7 full-length sequences isolated) was identified with some isolates of ChLCV-OM, TYLCV-OM and ToLCOMV, it was not identified in association with any of the ToLCABV isolates. Analysis of the sequences of the TYLCV-OM and ToLCOMV isolates characterized here did not show them to differ significantly from previously characterized isolates of these viruses. The three isolates of ChLCV-OM characterized were shown to have a recombination pattern distinct from earlier characterized isolates. ToLCABV was shown to have resulted from recombination between ChLCV-OM and ToLCOMV. A clone of ToLCABV was infectious by Agrobacterium-mediated inoculation to Nicotianabenthamiana and tomato, inducing symptoms typical of those seen in tomato in the field. Additionally, ToLCABV was shown to be able to interact in planta with ToLCB, resulting in a change in symptom phenotype, although the betasatellite did not appear to affect viral DNA levels.

Disposal of pesticide waste from agricultural production in the Al-Batinah region of Northern Oman

During the last two decades Oman has experienced rapid economic development but this has been accompanied by environmental problems. Manufacturing and agricultural output have increased substantially but initially this was not balanced with sufficient environmental management. Although agriculture in Oman is not usually considered a major component of the economy, government policy has been directed towards diversification of national income and as a result there has been an increasing emphasis on revenue from agriculture and an enhancement of production via the use of irrigation, machinery and inputs such as pesticides. In recent years this has been tempered with a range of interventions to encourage more sustainable production. Certain pesticides have been prohibited; there has been a promotion of organic agriculture and an emphasis on education and awareness programs for farmers. The last point is of especial relevance given the nature of the farm labour market in Oman and a reliance on expatriate and often untrained labour. The research, through a detailed stratified survey, explores the state of knowledge at farm-level regarding the safe disposal of pesticide waste and what factors could enhance or indeed operate against the spread and implementation of that knowledge. Members of the recently constituted Farmers Association expressed greater environmental awareness than their non-member counterparts in that they identified a more diverse range of potential risks associated with pesticide use and disposed of pesticide waste more in accordance with government policy, albeit government policy with gaps. Workers on farms belonging to Association members were also more likely to adhere to government policy in terms of waste disposal. The Farmers Association appears to be an effective conduit for the diffusion of knowledge about pesticide legislation and general awareness, apparently usurping the state agricultural extension service.

The mango sudden decline pathogen, Ceratocystis manginecans, is vectored by Hypocryphalus mangiferae (Coleoptera: Scolytinae) in Oman

In Oman, the bark beetle Hypocryphalus mangiferae is closely associated with trees affected by mango sudden decline disease caused by Ceratocystis manginecans. Although it has previously been assumed that this beetle plays a role in the dispersal of the pathogen, this has not been established experimentally. The aim of this study was to determine whether H. mangiferae vectors C. manginecans from infected to healthy mango trees. A survey conducted in northern Al Batinah region of Oman revealed that H. mangiferae was closely associated with mango sudden decline disease symptoms and it was found on trees in the early stages of the disease. Healthy, 2-year-old mango seedlings were exposed to H. mangiferae collected from diseased mango trees. Seedlings were infested by the bark beetles and after 6 weeks, typical mango sudden decline disease symptoms were observed. Ceratocystis manginecans was isolated from the wilted mango seedlings while uncolonized control seedlings remained healthy. The results show that H. mangiferae vectors C. manginecans in Oman and is, therefore, an important factor in the epidemiology of this disease.

WATER PRODUCTIVITY OF VEGETABLES UNDER MODERN IRRIGATION METHODS IN OMAN

ABSTRACTImproving water productivity can make a sterling contribution to global food production and poverty alleviation. Groundwater has always been a critical resource for agriculture. Scientific understanding of water productivity can help address water scarcity concerns through more productive use of scarce water resources and higher socio‐economic benefits from available water. This study examined the water productivity in the Al Batinah region of Oman using farm‐level data. In total 124 crops grown during the 4 years 2005–2008 were examined. Field studies were carried out for 4 years (2005–2008) on 18 field plots to examine yield, inputs, irrigation, costs and economic return of sweet melon, sweet pepper, cabbage and tomatoes grown under drip irrigation vs Rhodes grass grown under sprinkler irrigation using groundwater. The aim was to identify suitable combinations of vegetable crops grown under drip irrigation that can maximize the profitability of the farmers by optimizing water productivity. Results from the 4‐year data show that tomato and cabbage performed better than sweet pepper or melon as far as water productivity was concerned, while the drip irrigation method had shown better performance than sprinkler irrigation. Average crop water productivity was estimated at 7.8 and 11.9 kg m‾3 for the cabbage and tomato crops, respectively. The cabbage crop also gave the highest gross return of RO105 for each riyal Omani (RO 1.00 = US$2.59 in June, 2005) of investment in irrigation water. It has also been analysed that the drip irrigation system performed better in terms of crop water productivity and economic water productivity per cubic metre of water applied. So the research results represent decision‐making options of vegetable growers at farm scale but also offer important insights for the adoption of the drip irrigation system as well as the design of water policy incentives for irrigation modernization in Oman and other water‐scarce regions. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The fisheries community of albatinah region in oman: a socio-economic overview

Albatinah state is the place of origin to most of the artisanal fishermen in Oman, who ac-counted about 26.6%, also; they account for 28% of national landings by traditional means. During the last two decades, the area has practiced a general decrease in its fishery with a result of socio-economic disturbance and increased fishing pressure. The present study covered 3 cities (sample areas) from this state, which are Sohar, Liwa and Shinas. Study targeted two groups of respondents: fishermen and non fishermen. In addition, it was undertaken to gain base line socio-economic information upon the region and to examine the industry's structure and co-management strategies. Most of the fishermen are old and of low income. While, the family size differs between cities; Sohar contains small family size, Liwa has medium family size, while Shinas has high size of families. The fishermen have very long experience reaching over 20 years; however, the majority are illiterate and occupied as vessel owners.

Towards an integrated arid zone water management using simulation-based optimisation

For ensuring both optimal sustainable water resources management and long-term planning in a changing arid environment, we propose an integrated Assessment-, Prognoses-, Planning- and Management tool (APPM). The new APPM integrates the complex interactions of the strongly nonlinear meteorological, hydrological and agricultural phenomena, considering the socio-economic aspects. It aims at achieving best possible solutions for water allocation, groundwater storage and withdrawals including saline water management together with a substantial increase of the water use efficiency employing novel optimisation strategies for irrigation control and scheduling. To obtain a robust and fast operation of the water management system, it unites process modeling with artificial intelligence tools and evolutionary optimisation techniques for managing both water quality and quantity. We demonstrate some key components of our methodology by an exemplary application to the south Al-Batinah region in the Sultanate of Oman which is affected by saltwater intrusion into a coastal aquifer due to excessive groundwater withdrawal for irrigated agriculture. We show the effectiveness and functionality of a new simulation-based water management system for the optimisation and evaluation of different irrigation practices, crop pattern and resulting abstraction scenarios. The results of several optimisation runs indicate that due to contradicting objectives, such as profit-oriented agriculture versus aquifer sustainability only a multi-objective optimisation can provide sustainable solutions for the management of the water resources in respect of the environment as well as the socio-economic development.

Optimal planning and operation of irrigation systems under water resource constraints in Oman considering climatic uncertainty

In this contribution, we introduce a stochastic framework for decision support for optimal planning and operation of water supply in irrigation. This consists of (1) a weather generator for simulating regional impacts of climate change on the basis of IPCC scenarios, (2) a tailor-made evolutionary optimization algorithm for optimal irrigation scheduling with limited water supply, (3) a mechanistic model for simulating water transport and crop growth in a sound manner, and (4) a kernel density estimator for estimating stochastic productivity, profit, and demand functions by a nonparametric method. As a result of several simulation/optimization runs within the framework, we present stochastic crop-water production functions (SCWPF) for different crops which can be used as a basic tool for assessing the impact of climate variability on the risk for the potential yield for specific crops and specific agricultural areas. A case study for an agricultural area in the Al Batinah region of the Sultanate of Oman is used to illustrate these methodologies. In addition, microeconomic impacts of climate change and the vulnerability of the agro-ecological system are discussed.