ZS

Zahir Saif Zahir Al-Salmani

Head of Date Palm Research | Water & Irrigation Specialist | Wetskills Innovation Challenge Winner | Ministry of Agricultural Wealth, Oman

Al khoudh, Sultanate of OmanMinistry of Agricultural Wealth, Fisheries and Water Resources
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16+

Years

4

Companies

20

Skills

21

Certs

About

Agricultural research scientist with 18 years of government service in Oman, currently serving as Head of Date Palm Research Section at the Ministry of Agricultural Wealth, Fisheries and Water Resources, and completing a Master's in Crop Production at Sultan Qaboos University (2021-2025). Won the Wetskills Innovation Challenge 2012 as part of the winner group.

Key Highlights

  • INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION: Won the Wetskills Innovation Challenge Oman/Netherlands 2012 as part of the winning team "Paradise Protection" and presented a fog water capture and rainwater harvesting solution directly to the Netherlands Royal Family, including Queen Beatrix and Crown Prince Willem-Alexander.
  • NATIONAL AWARD: Awarded First Place in the Proficiency Competition for Agricultural and Animal Research 2018 by the Ministry of Agricultural and Fisheries - awarded at national level across Oman's agricultural research community.
  • DATE PALM RESEARCH: Leading the Date Palm Research Section at national ministry level since 2021, overseeing research into water requirements, crop nutrition, and farm practices for Date Palm production across Oman.
  • IRRIGATION ENGINEERING: Designed and managed irrigation systems and networks, and oversaw desalination plant operations during his time as Water Requirement Specialist at the Ministry of Agricultural and Fisheries.
  • INTERNATIONAL FELLOWSHIP: Completed a 28-day fellowship on the application of stable isotopes and nuclear techniques in agriculture at CNESTEN, Morocco (Oct - Nov 2019), under the IAEA framework.

Skills

Water Use Efficiency (WUE)Irrigation System DesignDate Palm ResearchMicrosoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher)Visual Basic (VBA)HYDRUS 1DLi-Cor / Eddy Covariance SystemIrrigation system designWater requirement analysisEvapotranspiration (ET) measurementWater use efficiency (WUE)Stable isotopes and nuclear techniquesPollen viability testingDate Palm pre- and postharvest technologiesMolecular techniques for Date Palm propagationSoil fertility managementSalinity managementRainwater harvestingFog water captureAquifer recharge

Experience

Head of Date palm research section

Ministry of Agricultural Wealth, Fisheries and Water Resources

2021 – Present

  • Date palm variety investigation
  • Improve Date palm production
  • Date Palm research topics (water requirement, nutrition, farm practice)

Water Requirement Specialist

Ministry of Agricultural and Fisheries

Feb 2013 – Dec 2020

  • Design irrigation system & network
  • Water researches and experiments

Plant Quarantine Specialist

Ministry of Agricultural and Fisheries

2010 – Jan 2013

  • Inspecting importing and exporting fruits and vegetables
  • Regulation and clearance of high risk propagative plant material

Intern / Competition Participant

Wetskills Innovation Challenge Oman/Netherland Internship

1 January 2012 – 13 January 2012

  • Participated in a competitive water innovation programme arranged by the Dutch Embassy in Oman in collaboration with Omani and Dutch universities
  • Co-developed a multi-component water capture system for the Dhofar region, integrating tree-based fog collection, rooftop rainwater harvesting, and small-scale storage dams for aquifer recharge

Design Project - Best Innovation Design Project Award

Sultan Qaboos University

Fall 2008 – Fall 2008

  • Invented and designed a mechanical device for cutting and peeling fruit, recognised as the best innovation design project; concept titled "Peel Ability as an Index of Fruit Maturity"

Certifications

Training workshop in pollen viability testing (November 2024)

Technical workshop to explore funding opportunities for climate projects from the Green Climate Fund (October 2024)

Lecturer in the Modern Agricultural Nurseries Management Program

KF Academy · 2024

Workshop on assembling, testing, and demonstrating of the solar energy powered mobile Date drier (June 2024)

Training workshop on a Li-Cor system installation and operationalization (EDDY COVARIANCE System) under the Date Palm Project (March 2024)

Organizing workshops for training on the use of palm pollination devices through dusting (February 2024)

Date Palm pre- and postharvest Technologies and Molecular Techniques for Date Palm Propagation

ICARDA (November 2023)

Regional Training Course on Climate Smart Agriculture to Improve Soil Fertility, Combat Salinity, Enhance Nutrients and Water Use Efficiencies and Increase Productivity of Major Crops in ASIA (March 2023)

Workshop on Water Saving Technologies using engineered soil: Training workshop for practitioners in Oman (December 2019)

Workshop on Modeling Soil-Water Dynamics using HYDRUS 1D (December 2019)

Fellowship training on Application of stable isotopes and nuclear techniques in agriculture field

CNESTEN Morocco · 2019

First place in the proficiency competition for agricultural and animal research 2018

Ministry of Agricultural and Fisheries (March 2019)

Workshop on Nature for water

Sultan Qaboos University (March 2018)

MEDRC Alumni lecture series - Towards efficient use of water in agriculture (Oral presentation)

MEDRC Water Research Center (February 2018)

Training Course on fertilizer quality control for foreign participant

Central Fertilizer Quality Control & Training Institute, Faridabad India (December 2017)

Training course on Basics and designs of modern irrigation systems

Ministry of Agricultural and Fisheries (May 2017)

Workshop on Adoption of new technologies for improving Agricultural mechanization in Oman

Sultan Qaboos University (April 2017)

Workshop on Wastewater Treatment & Application

Sultan Qaboos University (March 2017)

Workshop on Water Resource in Arid Areas: The way forward

Sultan Qaboos University (March 2016)

Training workshop on WOCAT/LADA tool for documenting local land management practice for salt affected lands

FAO, Sultan Qaboos University (December 2014)

Training course on Separating evapotranspiration (ET) into evaporation (E) and Transpiration (T) using isotopic and conventional techniques

IAEA (November 2014)

Education

Sultan Qaboos University

Master in Crop Production (Department of Plant Sciences) in Master in Crop Production (Department of Plant Sciences), Major: Crop Production

Sept

Sultan Qaboos University

Bachelor of Science (Agricultural and Marine Sciences) in Bachelor of Science (Agricultural and Marine Sciences), Major: Agricultural Engineering

Jun

Al-Imam AL-Salt Bin Malik Secondary School

Secondary School Certificate

2002

Languages

ArabicNative
EnglishProfessional

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