Photos by Ahmed al Toqi
Do young people still practice and truly love farming?
This question was answered by Saud al Dhuhli, a young man who grew up in the village of Talha in Wadi Bani Ouf in Al Rustaq. A village that is about 140 km from Muscat. The road to the village is rocky, and requires off-road vehicles to be reached. a distant village that is not distorted by modern trends and wired practices. A village where pristine nature allows you to think clearly and grow healthy.
Saud says that despite the decline in interest in agriculture as a career there are still young farmers working all over the world. Talha is an agricultural village. Most of the youth here are raised to be farmers and they love the practice.
“Growing up on a farm where I could work alongside my family has meant a lot to me. The lessons learned and the memories we shared as a family are priceless. I was born in this village and from a tender age, I learned to grow crops and beekeeping.”
Saud al Dhuhli is an adventurer himself who loves each place of the Sultanate of Oman and enjoys travelling across the country and abroad, yet, never missed the pleasure of being around his village to learn more about agriculture.
This small agricultural village is a big source of different crops. Each acre can provide not only for the village but the nearby towns as well. Talha (means acacia) is named after the abundance of acacia trees in the village, says Saud.
“Surrounded by acacia trees, nature helped me nurture my hobby of beekeeping. I extract honey from acacia, sumur and sidr trees, in addition to shou and sarh honey. The annual production of honey reaches 300 to 400 bottles of honey. The special care given to the honey cells is something extraordinary, requires patience and professionalism”.
Bu twaiq type of honey is another story. The search for hives takes effort and time. “it exists where water is, so we follow the water sources and then follow the bees to lead us to the hives. At night, when all the bees return to the hive, we move the hive to a shady area because the high temperature of summer kills the bees. In certain cases, I have to check if there is a queen in the hive, if not, I have to mix the bees with other hives, until they co-exist and in two weeks, they start producing honey. The production each season is about 20 bottles.
Hiking is a usual routine for people living in a mountainous village. The hikes of Saud developed another hobby, the search for Quartz stones. This hard, crystalline mineral glittering in the daily route of Saud, caught the attention of the young man who later, for personal use, made some tables out of them.
Sometimes, Saud regrets, “the lack of rains in some years, impedes us from growing all the crops. I love agriculture because of its unique ability to combine progress and tradition — two ideals that naturally and typically clash. We have some attempts to grow cherry tomatoes but due to the shortage of water and the heat rise, we couldn’t harvest any crops. We also tried to cross-breed crops, mixing the seeds of apricot with peach. The same tree on the right side gave us apricot and on the left side grows the peach”.
“I derive my power from the bees that I take care of. Bees, through complex and patient communication, work together to ensure that their colony thrives. Honey bees provide a model for the precise, compassionate community that can be achieved only through attentiveness, communication and hard work. The land is full of treasures. We need to dig to unearth them”.
I love this career also because it teaches life lessons early. Those lessons regarding the unjustness of nature, the payoff of perseverance, the redemption found in faith and hard work, the value of honesty, and the lasting impact of friendships formed through the lifestyle.
