Qatar has taken various effective steps to increase food production and help farms spread across the country. One of such important steps is ‘Qatar Farms Program’ which is playing important role in connecting farms to the market. Qatar Farms Program’ has emerged as the largest platform for marketing local vegetables by selling over 4,000 tonnes of vegetables in the last five months.
The Ministry of Municipality and Environment in cooperation with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry had launched the program last year. Under the initiative, fresh vegetables from 140 local farms are being showcased at a number of major commercial outlets.
‘Premium Qatar Farms Program’ is another program running at major commercial outlets which offers certified premium local vegetables in boxes.
Premium quality local vegetables also attracted big number of customers. Under ‘Premium Qatar Farms Program’ over 3,740 tonnes of premium quality vegetables were sold out at the outlets from December 2016 to February 2019, according to a data released by the Ministry of Municipality and Environment.
The agriculture sector in Qatar has developed significantly after the blockade. The proactive steps taken by the concerned authorities have boosted agricultural production in the country.
Qatar has achieved 100 percent self-sufficiency in dairy and fresh poultry products after unjust blockade.
The production of dairy products has increased from 60,000 tonnes a year before the blockade to about 220,000 tonnes this year, reflecting an increase of more than 265 percent.
Fresh poultry production in the country has increased from 10,000 tonnes per year to about 22,000 tonnes per year, showing an increase of 120 percent, while the production of shell eggs increased from 4,000 tonnes before the blockade to about 10,000 tonnes, reflecting an increase of more than 150 percent.
In 2018, the total area of protected greenhouses increased from 49 hectares in 2007 to 73 hectares in 2018. Thus, the quantities of vegetables produced increased from 4,814 tons last year to 6,500 tons this year. The area of unregulated greenhouses increased from 200 hectares in 2017 to 220 hectares, leading to an increase in production from 17,000 to 20,000 tons, while the production of vegetables in open land increased from 33,000 tons in 2017 to 36,000 tons in 2018. Some of the firms are now planning to export milk and vegetables, showing that Qatar is progressing ahead firmly in the area self-sufficiency.
