Fresh vegetables from local farms displayed on the shelves at an Al Meera outlet.
Fresh vegetables from local farms are available for sale at attractive prices at various outlets of Al Meera across the country.
The Al Meera sales are part of an initiative taken by the Ministry of Municipality and Environment to provide another platform for local farms to market their produce.
“The initiative has begun and we will announce it officially on 17 January," Yusuf Al Khulaifi, Head of Agricultural Affairs Department at the Ministry told The Peninsula.
“The idea behind this initiative is to supply the produce directly by farmers to Al Meera. Al Meera buy it and sell to customers taking marginal profit to help farmers get the maximum benefit ,” added Al Khulaifi.
All local farms whether they are small or big can participate to this initiative, he added.
A separate shelf could be seen at Al Meera's Murekh branch showcasing local vegetables yesterday.
The produce are displayed in small packets of about 1kg and half kg. Names of the producing farms with other necessary details like prices and quantities were printed on the packets.
The produce includes fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, capsicum and chilies among others. The tomato, cucumber and capsicum were available at QR4.75 per kg on Thursday.
"Local vegetables looked very fresh and it is also more delicious than those imported. I personally used it and customers also shared similar views," said the salesman at the outlet.
To promote local produce, the Ministry of Municipality and Environment has taken several initiatives. Three farmers' markets located at Al Mazrouah, near Umm Salal, Al Khor-Dhakhira and Al Wakrah are currently open for farmers to sell their products directly to the customers without any middlemen or brokers. The Mahasel festival in Katara is also featuring fresh produce from local farms.
