MUSCAT, March 18 -
Oman’s camels will soon have a digital identity that will help track their health, vaccination, feeding time, reproduction, rumination and the like, besides scientific breeding of healthy camels.
“We will deploy this smart identification system on camels by this year. It will help NGOs study these animals to make decisions pertaining to these even-toed ungulates,” said Thomas Nivert, Director of Allflex, a world leader in animal intelligence.
He said every single piece of information regarding the animal can be accessed through the tracking system. This will help the government address the issue of subsidies for farmers and increase the efficiency of ministry vis-a-vis planning and supply chain capabilities to ensure sufficient number of healthy animals are available on occasions such as Eid.
It will help “minimise speculation” and cost for consumers.
Although vaccination is done for animals in the country, there is no scientific system to track it.
Once the digital chip is implanted in their hide, things will change and the department concerned at the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries will know all vaccination details.
“Farmers will be able to ensure their cattle are scientifically maintained and bred. We are in the final round of talks with the Director of Animal Production and Director
of Animal Health. We are awaiting the final nod from the ministry, which has already given us the green light,” Nivert says.
Speaking to Observer on the sidelines of a seminar organised by Al Marooj LLC, a leading agriculture trading company in Oman, he said a country like Oman — which is blessed with land, water, camels and horses — has a great potential to be a large meat production and exporter in the GCC.
“It opens avenues for value creation, job creation and helping raise the economy by exporting
meat. I think the time is ripe and this move can aid the diversification of economy, boost economy and create job opportunities while attracting both local and international investments.”
India has already implemented this system to increase the number of milking and reproductive cows and augment national cow reproduction.
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