Over 3,200 tonnes of Qatari vegetables were sold through two local produce marketing programmes in April, the Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) said on Thursday.
These products are sold at major retail outlets in the country through the Qatar Farms and Premium Qatari Vegetables marketing initiatives.
Of the total 3,287.746 tonnes sold in April, 2,783.626 were sold through the Qatar Farms programme and 504.12 tonnes through the Premium Qatari Vegetables initiative, according to a statement by the MME.
The two marketing programmes, supervised by the MME in co-operation with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, are aimed at improving the marketing of Qatari vegetables and increasing their demand, the Qatar News Agency adds.
Through the two initiatives, locally produced vegetables are marketed and sold at various consumer complexes and retail outlets in the country - such as LuLu Hypermarket, Carrefour, Al Meera and Family Food Centre - to give farmers the opportunity to sell their high-quality products at reasonable prices directly to consumers without any intermediary and without costing the farmer any fees for that.
Also, the marketing programmes aim to reduce production losses to the minimum and enhance the income of Qatari farms, which in turn contributes to encouraging increased investment in the agricultural field and the availability of local vegetables in consumer complexes throughout the year.
Besides these marketing programmes involving major retail outlets, locally produced vegetables are also witnessing good sales at five yards set up in Al Mazrouah, Al Khor-Al Thakhira, Al Wakra, Al Sheehaniya and Al Shamal.
According to a recent report, around 1,000 tonnes of locally produced vegetables were sold at the yards since the start of the holy month of Ramadan.
An official had said the yards have had "record sales" since a decision was taken to operate them on all days of the week in mid-March. The yards sell more than 850 tonnes of different types of vegetables a week, with up to 4,000 tonnes a month, according to the report.
The yards will also remain open every day throughout the holy month.
