MUSCAT: A student company, Azot, affiliated to the University of Technology and Applied Sciences UTAS-Nizwa, has successfully produced a liquid organic fertiliser extracted from algae that grows in fresh water.
The product serves as an alternative to mineral fertilisers and helps combat soil salinity, a significant issue for agricultural lands.
The team aims to market the product and register the intellectual property with the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion.
Ali bin Mohammed al Qasabi said that the idea of the product came about due to the salinity of the soil in agricultural lands and finding alternatives to the use of fertilisers that affect the soil, as it works to solve the problem of salinity in a large way at a lower and competitive price.
He mentioned that the salinity of the soil causes a decrease in agricultural production, as this product will contribute to the reclamation of soil and agricultural land and reduce the salinity rate, and had conducted several experiments on the product to prove its efficiency.
He pointed out that the company is currently working on devising an auxiliary device that distributes the product with water to be used in irrigating crops through aflaj for cultivation, with the addition of organic materials that help trees bear fruit.
He also stressed that the company is conducting more studies and research for the product and working on developing it, adding that there are many challenges and difficulties that the company faced, represented in finding laboratories to help them complete the necessary research and studies for the product.
Al Qasabi mentioned that the company was currently working on developing the product with the aim of marketing and registering the intellectual property of the product with the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion, stressing that the company is currently working on developing the product through research and studies.
The team included Ali bin Mohammed al Qasabi, Shahd bint Khalfan al Siyabiyah, Malak bint Mohammed al Bahriyah, Muayyad bin Mohammed al Mufadhil, Ahmed bin Said al Qasabi, Al Zahraa bint Said al Hadramiyah, Abdullah bin Hilal al Shaibani, Al Basil bin Ali al Shukaili, Maria bint Hussain al Tawbiyyah, and Nour bint Sulaiman Ambusaidiyah. — ONA
