People flock a stall selling locally grown ornamental plants at Mahaseel Souq which concludes today at the Southern area of Katara.
DOHA: The Mahaseel Souq, which has attracted thousands of people for offering cheap local produce, concludes today at the Cultural Village (Katara) after a successful second edition which lasted for three months.
Located at the southern area of Katara, the souq follows the eight-day second Mahaseel Festival in December which saw the participation of 30 stalls representing 22 Qatari farms and six national food companies and featured various workshops and educational activities.
“The Mahaseel Souq has seen remarkable success this year by introducing different varieties of Qatari agricultural crops from fresh vegetables to flowers and ornamental plants, in addition to local farm products such as honey, milk and their derivatives, poultry, meat, and natural juices,” said Sulaiman Al Nuaimi, Chairman of Mahaseel organising committee.
Al Nuaimi noted that the souq witnessed huge visitor turnout and brisk trade by the participating companies, underlining that the souq demonstrates Katara’s objective to support high quality local products and encourage local farmers to ensure continuous farm produce.
It is part of Katara’s initiatives to support government efforts towards achieving food security and self-sufficiency which contribute to the realisation of the Qatar National Vision 2030, thanks to the Ministry of Municipality and Environment for its fruitful cooperation with Katara, which meets a common goal to support local products and the Qatari community, he stressed.
The souq began when the festival ended on December 30. Hundreds of people thronged the souq every day from Thursday to Saturday when it was open to buy fresh vegetables, fruits, eggs, dates, honey, juices, meat and dairy products at competitive prices and of best quality as they were monitored daily by the Ministry to ensure high quality and conformity to standards.
On its second edition, the festival saw an increasing interest among Qatari companies with a rise in the number of local farms who took part, from 14 last year to 22 this year, said organisers.
Not only did Mahaseel Festival offer products but also useful information on the vast array of local farm produce and their health benefits through seminars, workshops and competitions organised on the side.
Lectures and workshops on agriculture, beekeeping, health and nutrition, and home gardening in addition to art activities for children were among the educational activities at Mahaseel which attracted various schools.
Food stalls featuring Productive Families selling traditional Qatari cuisine were also crowd-pullers at the festival.
