With a number of new initiatives launched and new business deals matured, 7th International Agricultural Exhibition (AgriteQ) and Qatar’s First International Environmental Exhibition (EnviroteQ) has concluded.
As many as 51 countries participated in AgriteQ, an annual event, which is very important for local market and Qatari farmers where famous international companies showcase their agricultural products and latest farming technologies.
Among hundreds of business-to-business meetings between Qatari and foreign farm-based companies, an important project to plant one million trees in Qatar as part of the efforts to support the global initiative on climate change and sustainable environment was also unveiled at the AgriteQ 2019.
The one million trees project aims at utilising treated sewage water for irrigation, reducing the wastage of water, enhancing biological diversity, improving air quality, increasing greenery to reduce carbon footprint.
The Minister of Municipality and Environment H E Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Subaie said that in recent years Qatar had paid great attention to the development of the country’s wealth, including agricultural sector.
The Minister pointed out that the Ministry had provided all means to support agricultural producers by distributing agricultural support materials, greenhouses, honey bee cells, and agricultural production requirements such as seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, marketing packages and others, while livestock breeders were supported by concentrated feeds and animal production requirements such as milk and sheep wool cutting machine among many more.
During four-day exhibition, the Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) also revealed its ambitious ‘Strategic Food Security Projects 2019-2023’ to increase food production including fish, vegetables, red meat, eggs and shrimps aimed at reaching a level of sufficiency by 2023.
The projects will help increase the production of fish from the current 74 percent to 90 percent and vegetables from 24 percent to 70 percent by 2023. The production of red meat will go up from the current 18 percent to 30 percent and eggs will increase from 28 percent to 70 percent. Qatar will become self-sufficient in shrimp production by 2023 and green fodder production will increase from 56 percent to 63 percent.
A day before conclusion of the exhibition, the Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) and Qatar Development Bank (QDB) launched an initiative to encourage the production of table eggs in Qatari farms. Director of Animal Wealth Department at the MME, Engineer Abdulaziz Al Zeyara, said that the aim of the joint initiative was to achieve food security in Qatar, pointing out that the idea was aimed at allowing Qatari farmers to set up table egg production projects within registered farms, financed by QDB, and contributing to an increase in egg production and achieving food security.
