(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Since the launch of the Premium Qatari Vegetables programme of the department of the agricultural affairs at the Ministry of Economy and Commerce in December 2016, there has been a 10-fold growth in the availability of local vegetables in the marketing yards.
While the local availability was only about 24,500kg at the inception of the programme 15 months ago, it has increased to the levels of 270,000kg in the last three months, according to figures released by the ministerial authorities.
While 173,000kg of local vegetables reached the marketing yards in November 2017, the availability exceeded 250,000kg in the last three months running.
In December, it was 270,000kg and in January the availability hit the peak touching 285,000kg. In February, the yards received 260,000kg.
Only in August and September, the availability was a little low, at 15,000kg 7,500kg, it has been pointed out.
The department also informed that there was a spectacular growth in the availability of tomatoes between 2016-17 and 2017-18. While 253 tonnes of local tomatoes were available for sale at the yards, the figure exceeded 475 tonnes until February 2018. With three more months to go, the growth is expected to be more than 100%.
Similarly, in the last four years more than 20,000kg of honey were produced by local beekeepers. While 3,925kg were collected in 2014, the figure touched 6,355kg last year.
At the AgriteQ, a large number of varieties and brands of honey are sold at pavilions of the local farmers.

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