Abdulrahman Hassan al-Sulaiti, the general supervisor of these yards, told local Arabic daily 'Arrayah' that such an increase reflects the confidence of local farm owners to market their products effectively.
The three yards at Al Mazrouah, Al Wakrah, and Al Khor are mainly dedicated by the Ministry of Municipality and Environment for the display and sale of Qatari agricultural products as a way of encouraging local farms to increase their production in terms of quality and quantity.
Al-Sulaiti pointed out that the increasing number of Qatari farms taking part in the yards would ultimately reflect positively on consumers as it would lead to more stability of the prices of vegetables. Similarly, farmers would compete among themselves to present the best products at the best possible prices.
He said that the fifth week after the launch of this season saw an increase of the types of vegetables on display, which include pepper, eggplant, cucumber, zucchini, sweet melon and water melon, in addition to a wide variety of leafy vegetables. Yards also sell livestock, poultry, fruits and decoration plants. He further expected that the upcoming weeks would see the introduction of more related products at yards in bigger quantities.
Next week, the local honeybee festival will be organised at Al Mazrouah Yard, and then it would be moved to the other yards. The festival is conducted in co-operation with a number of Qatari farms. Al-Sulaiti stressed that the productivity of Qatari farms is increasing year-on-year as the government offers all support and incentives to the local farmers.
A stall with local vegetables at one of the yards.
The number of local farms taking part in the yards selling Qatari agricultural products has reached 90 with an increase of 10 farms in just one month from the start of the season.
