Qatarat Agricultural Development Company (QADCO), one of the leading agricultural companies Qatar, is making significant contribution to the country’s plan to achieve self sufficiency by producing high quality vegetables.
The company, which manages 32 farms, is one of the largest vegetable and fruit producers in the country.
“We are cultivating different varieties of vegetables and fruits to cater to the diverse preferences of the wide demographics in Qatar,” Nezar M. A. Al Atawneh, Operations Manager, Qatarat Agricultural Development Company told media persons while giving a tour of one of the farms of the company. The tour was organised by Qatar Airways. “We are continuously looking for new opportunities to expand plantings in terms of volumes, as well as varieties,” he added.
The company believes in providing fresh fruits and vegetables to the customers. “There is no storage of produce on the farm; crops are picked as necessary, immediately sorted, packed and delivered to suppliers,” said Atawneh.
“Continuous harvesting occurs the whole year round, as crops are rotated, depending on volume requirements of the market, climate suited for the respective varieties,” he added.
The company has adopted the concepts of sustainable agriculture and ‘clean farming’. The farms focus on maintaining ecological balance with minimal invasion or interference, rotating crops to allow the land to recover and source local compost to nourish the soils.
Other natural methods adopted include the careful selection of high resistance seeds and varieties for plantings, use of naturally occurring pheromones, anti-insect nets and plantings of certain vegetation to repel insects as opposed to the use of pesticides and other chemicals. Continuous efforts to source more land suited for plantings are ongoing. Huge tractors and Caterpillar machines can be seen on the farm, breaking through layers of stone and rubble, to separate stone from clay.
Additional soils are purchased from other development sites and samples are subjected to extensive laboratory testings in order to establish soil components, past vegetation, the existence of any potential pests or diseases, etc.
These soils are then sterilised, raising soil temperatures naturally, to 50 degrees Celsius or more, using sunlight and water to eradicate any diseases or infectious bacteria. Soils are then enriched with organic matter, such as farm made compost from leftover vegetation, manure from farm livestock, etc. Soils are then analysed once again, prior to plantings. In between crop rotations, lands are fallowed a period of three months to recover.
