Ever since Qatar began to be subjected to an illegal siege by neighbouring countries last year, the country has invested vast amounts of money and time into becoming self-reliant in the field of food production.

The government has been encouraging more people to try and develop farms in the country and the efforts are slowly starting to bear fruit.

The Agricultural Affairs Department of Qatar’s Ministry of Municipality and Environment announced that it is all set to open a fourth branch of the popular winter vegetable market this Saturday, reported The Peninsula.

The new winter market, which is a huge hit with consumers because it offers farm fresh vegetables at attractive prices, will be set up at Al Shamal.

“The new market will serve as another platform to market local agricultural produce offering fresh vegetables to customers straight from local farms without brokers or middlemen,” Yusuf Khalid Al Khulaifi, Director of Agriculture Affairs told The Peninsula recently.

The three existing seasonal winter vegetable markets are located at Al Mazrouah (Near Umm Salal), Al Khor-Dhakhira and Al Wakrah. They are also expected to reopen this season.

Al Khulaifi said agricultural production in the country witnessed a huge leap last season due to ample governmental support and initiatives taken by local farmers to increase production.

“We expect even more production this season. The government has earmarked QR105m to support producers of local food products. A big portion of this amount will be spent on local farms to provide them with necessary materials including shaded farms, seeds, pesticides, fertilisers and boxes for marketing the products,” he said.

Efforts to address existing obstacles in agriculture has started showing results. The production of local vegetables rose from 50,000 tonnes a year before the blockade to about 65,000 tonnes this year. This is an increase of 30%.

The Ministry is currently in the process of preparing a list of the farmers who will be beneficiaries of the allocated fund.