Locally produced flowers.
DOHA: To promote locally produced flowers, the Ministry of Municipality and Environment has announced to organise Flower Festival-2018 at three winter vegetable markets starting from Thursday.
The annual winter markets run by the Ministry of Municipality and Environment are located at Al Mazrouah (near Umm Salal), Al Khor and Al Dhakhira and Al Wakrah. First flower festival will be held from January 11 to 13 at winter market of Al Mazrouah. The winter market of Al Khor-Al Dhakhira will have the festival from January 18 to 20 while the visitors can benefit from flower festival at Al Wakrah winter market from January 25 to 27.
Many local farms are expected to participate in the festival with various varieties of flowers and flower plants in large quantities, said the Ministry. Local farms are preparing to register their presence in the festival in a big way.
“We will participate in the festival with various varieties of flowers and flower plants,” Mohamad Absarul, salesman of one of the largest flower producing farm operating at Umm Salal suburb told The Peninsula.
He said that his company has a separate farm for flowers in a big area with production capacity of thousands of the flowers on daily basis.
“We produce flowers in large quantity in greenhouse round-the-year and from farm during agricultural season,” said Absarul.
He said that the flower harvesting season started over a month ago and now farms were at peak season.
Speaking on the types of flowers, Absarul said that his farm produces dozens of varieties of decorative flowers like petunia and roses adding that the farm recently imported many new varieties of flower seeds and seedlings.
Regarding the demands of locally produced flowers, he said that the farm used to supply hundreds of thousands flower plant to decorate Corniche and other venues of Qatar’s National Day programme.
“Now we are supplying flowers to Katara, cultural villages and other places at local market. Traders from flower shops visit the farm on daily basis to buy large quantity of flowers and flower plants,” he added. Speaking on most favourable flower in terms of demand, Absarul said that petunia is the most selling flower of his farm.
Al Sulaiteen Agricultural and Industrial Complex, one of the largest farm in Qatar is producing more than 50 different types of flowers, said a report posted on social site of the company.
Since year 2002, SIAC has been concentrating on seasonal flower plants production in modern greenhouses and shaded houses with total area of 2.5 ha.
“From the beginning of our production, we have increased the production year by year and reached more than 6 million plants per year now,” said SIAC.
“We are producing summer and winter seasonal flowers with total varieties of more than 50 different types.”
