Ministry of Municipality to ensure fair price for local agro produce
Qatar’s Ministry of Municipality has enhanced its efforts to ensure reasonable prices for local agricultural produce, especially during peak season when vegetables from abroad enter the Qatari market in large quantities.
The Ministry’s Agricultural Affairs Department is running several initiatives — from providing agricultural inputs to marketing platforms to reduce the production cost of local farms — thereby enabling them to compete with imported produce.
“We’re constantly in touch with concerned ministries and held numerous meetings to address problems faced by local farmers related to importing agricultural produce in large quantities during peak season from January to April,” said Ahmed Salem Al Yafei, Head of Agricultural Guidance and Services Section at the Agricultural Affairs Department.
Speaking on a Qatar TV programme, he said the Department was trying to allow import of high-quality vegetables of ‘A’ category following local specifications.
“The move will prevent the flooding of the market with agricultural produce and protect local produce from any impact in this regard,” said Al Yafei.
He added that the Ministry was providing local farmers with huge support, including fertilisers, pesticides, seeds, irrigation systems and greenhouses among others free of cost.
“We’re also providing marketing platforms to local farmers to get good returns for their efforts and investments,” said Al Yafei.
He said there are now five yards for selling local produce directly to customers without middlemen.
“We’re also running programmes like — Premium Qatari Vegetables and Qatar Farms — for marketing local vegetables in major commercial outlets,” he said.
He said the country’s agricultural sector had made remarkable progress, helping Qatar become more self-sufficient in fresh food production.
“Qatar’s self-sufficiency rate in agricultural produce reached about 45% in 2024 from 27% in 2011. It reflects the efforts of local farmers and agricultural companies,” said Al Yafei.
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Photo courtesy: The Peninsula
