The Ministry of Municipality and Environment, represented by the Agricultural Affairs Department, is set to open another new winter vegetable market in Al Shahaniya this January, according to a report by The Peninsula.

Winter vegetable markets have become increasingly popular in Qatar, especially as the government is striving for self sufficiency and encouraging residents to buy local products.

The new market will sell farm fresh vegetables directly to the customers at reasonable prices. Yusuf Khalid Al Khulaifi, Director of Agriculture Affairs, stated that it will be the same size as other existing vegetable markets, with around 15 farms participating at the start.

The department is also working towards opening a fully air conditioned vegetable market at Al Mazrouah.

"A vegetable market will also open soon in Al Mazrouah besides Umm Salal Central Market. The new vegetable market will be fully air-conditioned and will run round-the-year unlike other vegetable markets which open only during some months," said Al Khulaifi while speaking to The Peninsula on the sidelines of a ceremony held at a local farm ‘Global Farm for Agricultural Supply’ yesterday.

"The capacity of new market will be double compared to the existing market. The new market will accommodate 75 outlets of local farms," he added.

"Winter vegetable markets are very important for marketing the products of local agricultural farms," Al Khulaifi said.

The farm opened a center at its premises under an initiative to educate citizens and expatriates including school students and households about the basics of agriculture and create awareness about its importance.

The center ‘Late Ahmad bin Ibrahim Al Siddiqi Hall for Agricultural Education’ with the capacity of 75 trainees is equipped with necessary modern education tools like audio visual aids, chairs and tables.

The water saving modern techniques of agriculture including hydroponic, aquaponic and those for growing hydroponic green fodder are showcased in an attached facility to give practical lessons to the trainees.

He said that winter vegetable markets are part of a project of the Ministry to provide marketing platforms to local farmers so they could get reasonable prices for their products

"The shopping complexes contributed in a big way to market the products of local farms," said Al Khulaifi adding that the Ministry provided agricultural inputs and other support to reduce the cost of the production so they can compete to the market.

"The idea of setting up the centre came after blockade where we received many questions from the people about the basics of agriculture," said Ali Ahmad Saad Mansour Al Kaabi, owner of the Global Farm for Agricultural Supplies.

He said that the centre is preparing to sign agreement with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education and Ministry of Municipality and Environment about organising workshops on agricultural awareness training.

"We have already cooperation with Qatar Development Bank (QDB) in this regards, said Al Kaabi. He said that the initiative aims at serving all segments of the society including citizens and expatriates. “We target households, students from government and private schools," he added.

"About 45 trainees will get training at a time however, the hall can accommodate 70 people," said Al Kaabi, explaining that the centre will host agricultural experts and engineers as trainers from Qatar, Kuwait and Oman.

"The training centre will provide theoretical and practical, both types lessons to the students to increase the awareness about the importance of agriculture in the community," stated Hasan Abdullah Al Muhammadi, Head of the Public Relations and Communications Department at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education.

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Cover image credit: Abdul Basit/The Peninsula