Qatar agricultural sector sees future expansion

Qatar agricultural sector sees future expansion

The booming agricultural sector of Qatar drives more and more investors to involve themselves in this worthy endeavour. The agriculture of the nation has seen steady and significant annual gains every year, and is continuously eying further expansions in the years to come.

According to Qatari agriculturist Nasser Ahmed al-Khalaf, “The agriculture sector is still booming in Qatar and I see more people are interested to invest in this sector.” As the managing director of Qatari company Agrico, he believes that compatriot entrepreneurs can be highly encouraged to invest in hydroponics especially. A research and development (R&D) facility has already been established by Agrico, Qatar Fertiliser Company (Qafco), and Yara International ASA (Norway), with the hopes of increasing the overall agricultural yield and cultivated areas in Qatar.

“We continue to grow and develop more farms (in Qatar) even during the summer. We never stop and have been producing every day since 2015,” he said. “We have three major farms, which we developed other than Agrico, and they are now producing even during the summer. I have one farm at 20,000sqm and still increasing in size. Another farm at 10,000sqm and another farm at 100,000sqm. All these farms have been developed, operated and marketed by Agrico using its technology. We provide for them the total solution from development, operations and marketing.”

The three aforementioned companies have already signed an agreement in 2018, which will allow them to put up a facility in order to test greenhouse technologies. Among these research opportunities include nutrient management and other solutions that are specifically aimed at increasing the vegetable production locally.

“We have proven in the past years that not only can we grow in Qatar but we also made the agriculture business profitable (with Mahaseel marketing company) both locally and regionally as well,” al-Khalaf added. “Hydroponics is the future of agriculture.”

With the development of the local farms in Qatar, there will be more and more avenues for unlocking the full potential of the local farms, that will inevitably lead to increased yields that can meet the demands of fresh produce in the country.

“The result of the R&D will be issued soon,” al-Khalaf said. “Agrico, in the past four years, has played a significant role in supporting those investors. In 2019, the company developed three different farms with a cultivated area of 150,000sqm, fully operational today.”

That said, this opens up the country to more interested investors both local and foreign to continue the upward trend of the overall development and expansion of the agricultural sector in Qatar.