Qatar agriculture sector on road to self-sufficiency

HE the Minister of Municipality and Environment Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Turki al-Subaie congratulated His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani on the occasion of National Day. He also congratulated the people of Qatar on this glorious national occasion and prayed to God Almighty to preserve the wise leadership and government to achieve Qatar’s aspirations. The minister stated, in a statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA), that National Day is not an ordinary event, but rather a beautiful commemoration of a long history of work and struggle, adding that we must draw inspiration from this and continue the path of development and achievements for a bright future. He said that while we celebrate this occasion, we must remember those pioneers who gave us an example in love and devotion for the homeland; as a result to their example, our hearts became full of faith and loyalty to this nation and its development.HE al-Subaie pointed out that during the past couple of years, Qatar has made tremendous achievements in various political, economic, social, cultural, athletic and other fields. He added that Doha became a major maker and participant in regional and global events and in resolving many international disputes thanks to the wise leadership of His Highness the Amir. The minister stated that the state with both its public and private sectors, since the first day of the unjust siege, has dealt with the crisis seriously and responsibly to face its consequences. He stressed that Qatar has succeeded, thanks to God, and the efforts and dedication of the people of Qatar who thwarted the objectives of the siege and turned it from a curse into a blessing. He added that the state paid more attention to local production by increasing agricultural products such as vegetables, red meats, poultry, eggs and fish. He pointed out that despite the siege, the Qatari agricultural sector, due to the growing interest of the government under the leadership of His Highness the Amir, made a big leap to cover the requirements of the local market and raise the level of self-sufficiency in animal and plants sectors and fishery. He also pointed out that the percentage of self-sufficiency of fresh vegetables in the country reached 22% while 35 strategic projects for the production of vegetables in protected facilities will be introduced. He expects vegetable self-sufficiency to reach 55% within three years. The minister stated that sufficiency of green fodder reached about 47% and a number of strategic projects are being developed for its production; self-sufficiency rate of these feeds is expected to increase to 70% within three years. Regarding dairy sector, he stated that a major strategic dairy project has been established and investments in existing projects have increased, which in turn increased the self-sufficiency of milk and dairy products from 27% in 2017 to 90% now. He expected that full self-sufficiency will be achieved in 2019.In the red meat sector, the minister noted that 15% of self-sufficiency has been achieved, adding that there are development programmes to increase this percentage to 60% within two years. Meanwhile, investments in chilled poultry production projects increased significantly in 2018, which increased self-sufficiency ratio from 51% in 2017 to about 99% now.The percentage of self-sufficiency of eggs is about 27%. A number of investment projects will be introduced to produce eggs in the near future. These projects will increase self-sufficiency to 65%. The self-sufficiency rate of fresh fish was about 80% and the state started investing in fisheries to produce fish and shrimp in early 2018. The minister expected that these projects will contribute to raising self-sufficiency to 90% within two years. HE al-Subaie pointed out that Qatar ranked first in the Arab World and 22nd in the World Food Security Index for 2018, which included 113 countries. The index is based on the Economist Intelligence Unit, which uses — as a criteria — food availability, accessibility, quality and safety standards in the food sector, diet diversification, agricultural infrastructure, GDP per capita PPP, ease of funding farmers, spending on agriculture and the rates of supply compared to demand levels. The Minister of Municipality and Environment considered the National Day an opportunity for all citizens of Qatar to make every effort to elevate their homeland to further horizons of progress and prosperity. He added that the ministry is doing all it can to contribute to the renaissance of the homeland by working on the implementation of many advance projects and services needed by the citizens.