The Ministry of Municipality and Environment's (MME) yards selling local farm products at Al Mazrouah, Al Wakra, Al Khor-Al Thakhira, Al Shamal and Al Sheehaniya continue to evoke a good response. According to figures released by the MME, a total of 2,105 tonnes of farm products were sold in March, including 643 tonnes fruits, 502kg honey, 1,109 kg local dates, and 1,167 kg Qatari mushroom.
The yards marked sales of 31,535 bags of barn hay, 20,460 trays of cultivated barley, 44,777 kg of cultivated barley, 3,532 packs of Rhodes hay and 3,012kg of bags of concentrated hay. Also, the markets had livestock sales with 2,138 sheep and goats along with 2,141 domestic chicken and 2,106 egg trays.
The local yards are supplied with around 25 fresh farm products. These include cauliflower, capsicum, cucumber, eggplant and other leafy vegetables that can be produced using greenhouses, in addition to watermelon, sweet melon, pumpkin and onion.
Around 160 farms are currently taking part in the yards. The vegetable prices this year are between 20 to 30% lower than the one in the central market.
The Agricultural Affairs Department of MME has chalked out plans to develop the yards by expanding some sections so as to cater to the increase in the number of farms expected to participate in the next season.
The yards are strictly implementing the Covid-19 preventive and precautionary measures for the protection of both consumers and workers. Nobody is permitted inside any of the yards without showing the ‘Green’ status on the Ehteraz application. This is in addition to the implementation of other measures such as wearing facemasks and maintaining a safe distance between people at the yards.
The MME has lined up 39 new projects to achieve food security in the country by boosting the production of vegetables, sheep, goats, fish and eggs. All the projects are in the stage of contract awarding and development, and production will begin by the next season.