Qatar has started exporting its hydroponics farming technology in the region, proving its growing advancement in this field, prominent Qatari agriculturist and Agrico managing director Nasser Ahmed al-Khalaf has said.
“We are developing 1mn sqm of hydroponic farm in Oman and hopefully by next year it will be ready,” he told Gulf Timeson the sidelines of the eighth edition of the Qatar International Agricultural Exhibition (AgriteQ) and the second Qatar International Environmental Exhibition (EnviroteQ), taking place until March 27 at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre.
Apart from its construction, al-Khalaf said Agrico, a private Qatari agricultural development company established in 2011, will also be in charge of the Omani farm’s operation and marketing.
After doing a lot of tests, and research and development (R&D), he noted that hydroponics in the country continues to produce excellent results year-on-year.
“We are very comfortable with hydroponics, we have the experience, (and we) tested or made a lot of R&D where we produce profitably,” al-Khalaf said.
He said Qatar has invested significantly in advanced farming technologies that suit its climate and environment.
Agrico developed a highly sophisticated hydroponics system capable of producing various types of organic and pesticide-free vegetables and fruits such as tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuces, green leafy vegetables, spring onion, egg plants, zucchinis, mushrooms, hot and sweet peppers, and melons, among others, all year long.
“When you go there (other countries), it is more on conventional farming, culture is a little bit different, resources there are also a little bit different. Some areas they have very good soil, water, and environment,” al-Khalaf said. Qatar is very small, we don’t have all these luxury, that is why we were forced to be innovative and to develop new things.”
Domestically, he said Agrico, in partnership with another local farm, is set to develop one (10 hectares) of the 10 plots distributed by the Ministry of Municipality and Environment into a hydroponics farm. An agreement signing is scheduled to take place today at AgriteQ/EnviroteQ.
Agrico also built a 200,000sqm land – the Al Waha hydroponics farm – which now operates and supplies its products to the Qatar market.
“Now our aim is to build other farms, we have another farm which will be announced soon, it is around 700,000sqm. We will have around over 1mn sqm of hydroponics farms in Qatar under our operation,” al-Khalaf said.
“In hydroponics, Qatar is more advanced. As we have seen, (there are) a lot of agriculture exhibitions in the Gulf, (but) the best and the most innovative in the whole area is in Qatar, you will see not only Agrico here, but other farms are very innovative as well, everybody is specialising in its own right,” he said.
