With the participation of 55 local farms and national companies, the third Local Dates Exhibition 2021 opened yesterday at Souq Waqif.
The exhibition aims to promote the national product of dates and introduce its different types. It will continue until October 23 and opens daily from 3 pm to 9 pm and until 10 pm during weekends.
The first day of the exhibition witnessed a big turnout from people keen to buy large quantities of dates, especially as they are cheap compared to the regular market.
Prices range from QR8 to QR15 per kg, depending on the type, as there are many varieties.
“This year, we have distributed 100 rooms for drying dates to the Qatari farms as part of our keenness to secure the needs of the date farms and provide solutions for major challenges facing them. The advantage of these rooms is to speed up the drying of dates compared to the previous traditional methods, which take longer time,” said Yousuf Khalid Al Khulaifi, Director of the Agricultural Affairs Department at the Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME).
He also emphasized that the Ministry is waiting to evaluate the results of the rooms for drying dates in the farms to distribute more of rooms.”
Speaking yesterday at the event, he said the Ministry is preparing to buy the dates from the farms and has allocated an amount of QR10m. These quantities purchased are supplied to charities in the country to distribute to the countries in need.
The exhibition is being organised by the MME represented by the Department of Agricultural Affairs and Souq Waqif Management.
Al Khulaifi noted that 55 local farms are participating in this edition. He explained that the drying process significantly improved the quality of local dates over the past years, and comparing the quality of dates before and after will show a big difference.
The rooms for drying dates have contributed to improving the quality of local dates to compete with their imported counterparts, he said.
The exhibition venue has been prepared with all the commitments and equipment necessary to complete the marketing process.
