Oman reveals scope of Al Najd Agricultural City

Al Najd Agricultural City in Dhofar, southern Oman is expected to house 13,000 residents and create 6,500 jobs, British architect Foster + Partners has said.

Commissioned by the ministry of housing and urban planning and the ministry of agriculture, fisheries and water resources, the project forms part of the objectives outlined in Oman Vision 2040.

Covering around 54 million square feet, the development is conceived as a self-sustaining agricultural and urban settlement. It will be built on fertile soil and become the country’s first zero-waste agricultural development, Foster + Partners said in a statement.

The master plan is being designed in collaboration with Dar Al-Handasah, a Muscat-based consultant. No financial details were given.

It will have clusters of rectangular farms, ranging from 10 to 200 hectares, in addition to agricultural spaces within public areas such as parks, boulevards, and courtyards.

Foster + Partners said that a team of agricultural consultants has selected crops, focusing on regionally suitable varieties such as date palms, greenhouse-grown tomatoes and industrial crops that produce raw materials.

The project aims to support exports and agro-processing opportunities, including the production of dried and frozen produce, oils, compost and fertiliser.

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The city will have a diversified water strategy that includes groundwater, collecting runoff water from the mountains via dams, and desalinated seawater, with careful monitoring of irrigation and the selection of water-efficient crops.

This month, Oman broke ground on a new $4.2 billion agricultural city near Saham in the Batnah region, about 220km north of the capital, Muscat. Its master plan has been designed by Surbana Jurong Group, a Singaporean government-owned consultancy.

In April Dr Ahmed bin Nasser Al Bakri, undersecretary of the ministry of agriculture, said the sultanate is targeting 400 food projects with investments of OMR400 million ($1 billion) in 2026, the first year of the country’s 11th five-year plan.