Oman has arid climate of average rainfall less than 200 mm per year. Agricultural production in Oman is almost fully dependent on irrigation in which more than one third of irrigation water is supplied by aflaj. There are three types of aflaj in Oman: ghaili, daudi and aini. Among these three systems, only the daudi aflaj is very similar to qanat irrigation systems of Iran. Qanat irrigation systems have been utilized in many places around the world for domestic and agricultural production. This paper describes the Omani aflaj with emphasis on the daudi (qanat type). Some problems facing aflaj will also be discussed.

Oman has arid climate of average rainfall less than 200 mm per year. Agricultural production in Oman is almost fully dependent on irrigation in which more than one third of irrigation water is supplied by aflaj. There are three types of aflaj in Oman: ghaili, daudi and aini. Among these three syst...