132 tonnes of local vegetables sold in September: ministry

A total of 132 tonnes of local vegetables were sold in the month of September, the Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) said yesterday.Of this, 72 tonnes were sold through the Qatar Farms programmes and 60 tonnes through the Premium Qatari Vegetables initiative, according to a press statement from the MME. Local farm products sold under the two programmes are available at major retail outlets in the country, such as LuLu Hypermarket, Carrefour, Al Meera and Family Food Centre, etc.The two marketing initiatives are supervised by the MME in co-operation with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.The MME had launched the two programmes to market locally produced vegetables at various consumer complexes in the country to give farmers the opportunity to sell their high-quality products at reasonable prices directly to consumers through such markets, the statement noted.This, in turn, is expected to encourage the farmers to improve their production. The two marketing programmes aim to improve the local marketing of Qatari vegetables, increase demand, minimise production loss, increase the Qatari farmers’ income and boost investment in the agricultural field, the MME added.