Muscat: The harvesting season or Al Tabseel of Al Mabsali and other varieties of dates has started across governorates in the Sultanate. Al Mabsali dates are cooked when it is yellow in colour and is called Busoor.
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry said its warehouses in Al Wadi Al Kabir receive ‘Busoor’ every year from various governorates of the Sultanate. It also provides support to farmers supplying their crops. It also releases subsidies for farmers who export their Busoor production to encourage them to find alternative and new markets.
The ministry will offer bids for the sale of this year’s crop to give local companies the opportunity to buy the crop and market it locally and abroad. The ministry has made some amendments to the handling tender, Busoor processing and sale bid this year in order to reduce loss, compared to previous years. It is hoped that date of receiving Busoor at the warehouses will be from December 9, 2019 till February 7, 2020.
The ministry completed the collection last year’s crop of the three types of dates (Al Mabsali, Al Madlouki and Abu Naranja) in February this year. Around 544 suppliers brought in 2,475,331 tonnes produce worth RO 878,450. Farmers exported 311,300 tonnes of dates worth RO 19,456 in 2018 the ministry called on farmers to pay attention to the quality of the produce that is supplied to the ministry or which is exported directly to foreign markets by ensuring that it is clean to maintain the reputation of Omani dates.
The ministry affirms that farmers should strive to increase the export of Busoor this year and the coming years. The ministry said farmers who export Busoor will get RO 62.500 per tonne as subsidy. — ONA
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