A number of Qatari farm owners have adopted a new approach to market their products online and deliver them direct to the customers’ homes as part of complying with the measures to prevent any further spread of Covid-19 in the country.

Local Arabic daily Arrayah has reported that the new methods would help them sell good quantities of various products including fresh vegetables, meat, poultry, dairy products, eggs and other related items. The local farms depend on social media and websites to promote their products at good prices. The Qatari owners also told the daily that farms have managed to cover almost 75% of the needs of the local market and continued to boost their production in spite of the challenges caused by Covid-19.

They further stressed that the experiences and expertise they have gained since the unjust blockade started on June 5, 2017, enabled them to address the current challenges effectively besides the power and stability of the Qatari economy. Hussein Salem, manager of a local farm, has highly appreciated the constant support of the Ministry of Municipality and Environment for local farms that have helped them to make a considerable leap in production, in terms of both quantities and varieties. He said that his farm produces around one tonne of vegetables a day including tomatoes, cucumber, zucchini, pepper and others, which are mostly marketed through Mahaseel besides the yards for selling local agriculture products.

Mubarak Rashid al-Nuaimi, owner of a local farm for fish and poultry production, said that Qatar is considered the least affected by Covid-19 in economic terms due to the successful experiences of the country in managing crises including that of the sudden blockade, which has helped in mitigating the negative impacts of outbreak.

Abdullah Mohamed alKhelaifi said his farm produces around 3 tonnes of vegetables of different types a day, in addition to livestock, poultry, eggs, fodder, dairy products and dates. A total of 10 tonnes of dates were produced last year.

Ali Noah said his farm started to post information about their products on the various social media platforms with offers of free delivery to nearby customers while charging a small fee for distant locations.

A considerable number of the local farms have introduced the delivery services of vegetables, meat, poultry and milk products to encourage their customers to stay safe at home and avoid crowds at shopping malls, as they would be able to purchase their needs fresh online and get them delivered at their convenience with little or no charges, the daily added.

Source : The Gulf Times

More on News & Updates