The 9th Local Dates Festival, set to conclude today at Souq Waqif, has enjoyed the participation from more than 110 farms displaying their best produce.
The exhibition, open today from 4pm-9pm, has a number of stalls that sell dates and dates-based products, such as biscuits, cakes, syrup, ice cream and a wide collection of sweets, mixtures of nuts, jam and others.
A corner at the exhibition tent showcases hand-crafted products, made from palm fronds, including baskets and mats.
Since its start on July 23, the festival has been witnessing an excellent turnout of visitors and customers – Qataris, expatriates and visitors to the country – who have been keen to buy good quantities of their preferred varieties of dates.
The prices of most varieties of dates on display at the exhibition starts at QR5 per kg and QR7 for 2kg, and can vary depending on the quantity and the willingness of both the buyer and seller to agree on a price.
While some people were seen buying big quantities, many opted for a 1kg box.
The Agriculture Research Department at the Ministry of Municipality is participating in the exhibition to introduce the public and farm owners to the tissue culture of date palms, which uses sophisticated methods to propagate them instead of the traditional methods that takes longer time and effort.
Plant tissue culture is a collection of techniques used to maintain or grow plant cells, tissues, or organs, and helps produce robust species of date palms resistant to diseases and give improved harvest.
Tissue culture date palm seedlings are on sale for QR85 each.
Sales at the festival has amounted to more than 156 tonnes of various types of locally produced dates within the first eight days
The exhibition has been an excellent opportunity for farm owners to reach out directly to customers and display their products on daily basis, fresh from the farm.
