The Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and the Ministry of Municipality and Environment have launched a joint national initiative to promote local production of sheep meat and to subsidize the prices.
The initiative launched Tuesday aims to encourage local breeders to develop their facilities improve their capabilities, and to build strategic stocks that supports food security.The Director of Quality Licensing and Market Control Department at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry Abdullah Khalifa Al Kuwari said that the initiative will be implemented in two phases. The first phase will be implemented through registration of farms and the inventory of quantities, and the company Widam Food will purchase live sheep directly from the farms in accordance with the specific regulations and requirements. In the second phase, sheep will be sold to citizens at subsidized prices and that will continue for five months and thirteen days.
Al Kuwari added that the initiative, which will cost QR 21.5 million, sets out the general regulations and requirements for registering sheep and choosing the farmhouse or farm participating in the national initiative to encourage local production and subsidizing the prices of sheep meat. To participate in the initiative, the applicant must have a registered farm, and should stick to biosecurity regulations. The participating farmhouse or farm should also have basic facilities satisfying the hygienic requirements for typical animal breeding, such as appropriate barns, feedstocks and clean water.
Al Kuwari pointed out that the initiative requires that the barns in the farm are suitable for the intensive breeding of sheep, and the sheep participating in the program should be local, immune and in good health and free of diseases, defects and injuries. The age of sheep should be from 4 months and above, and the average weight is 30 kg to 35 kg, he said.
The representative of the Ministry of Municipality and Environment said that the initiative requires commitment to deliver the numbered sheep within the specified dates and at places, which will be informed by the animal wealth management specialists at the Ministry of Municipality and Environment.
