Doha, Qatar: A local date festival featuring 31 exhibitors including farms and companies will open today at the International Zone of Expo 2023 Doha, offering different varieties of dates at attractive prices.
“The eight-day event will offer different varieties of popular dates from local farms such as Ikhlas, Shishi and Barhi among many more,” said Head of the Agricultural Guidance and Services Section at the Ministry of Municipality, Ahmed Salem Al Yafei.
The Ministry of Municipality represented by the Agricultural Affairs Department in coordination with Organising Committee of Expo 2023 Doha will organise the festival.
Speaking to Al Rayyan TV yesterday, Al Yafei said the festival will run until November 30, from 4pm to 10pm daily. “A total of 29 local farms and two Qatari companies for processing and packaging dates will participate in the festival,” said Al Yafei.
He said that the festival will also have a dedicated corner for plant factory of the Agricultural Affairs Department to educate visitors and farmers about palm tree farming.
“Farmers will also showcase samples of saplings of palm trees which are available for sale from their farms,” said Al Yafei. He said the Agricultural Affairs Department will also hold seminars for farmers and those interested to educate them about the latest techniques of palm tree farming.
“The plant factory for palm trees run by the Ministry of Municipality and two factories for processing and packaging dates are added to this edition of local dates festival,” said Al Yafei. He said most of the local date varieties including Ikhals, Shishi and Barhi which are very popular in Qatar will be available at the festival.
The organisation of this festival comes within the framework of the great interest that Qatar attaches to supporting and encouraging local production of all national products, including dates. It is also part of the efforts to achieve food security, develop the agricultural sector, including palm trees, support farm owners and those interested in palm cultivation, and upgrade the varieties of dates in the country.
The Ministry has been providing massive support to farmers including fertilisers, pollination and services for preparing the lands to improve the quality of local dates.
To provide good return to farmers for their hard work and investment, the Ministry organises festivals for fresh and dried dates, enabling them to market their products directly to the customers without middlemen.
The move aims at encouraging them to increase the production and improve the quality. Qatar has achieved 82 percent self-sufficiency in date production thanks to the support provided by the Agricultural Affairs Department of the Ministry of Municipality to local farmers to ensure food security in the country.
