The blockade imposed on Qatar by some of its neighbouring countries on June 5 three years ago, and the resulting self-sufficiency drive launched by Qatar, helped the country attain self-sufficiency in dairy and poultry business and expand its agricultural landscape. What’s more, it paved the way for a more conducive environment for sustainable agriculture practices in the country.
Qatar’s agriculture sector has since seen a boom and an increasing number of companies coming up with cutting-edge technologies and new business models to bring the country closer to its goal of attaining food security.
It was in this backdrop that Contec Global Group Chairman Dr Benoy Berry decided to enter the Qatari market and make it the hub of his company’s agricultural operations. The Contec Global Group entered Qatar through its agri-food arm, Greenfields, last year. Dr Berry and his team of committed officials are working diligently to put in place strategic reserves of perishables and select non-perishables with an aim to bring about qualitative changes in farming operations for a harvest of healthier food grains, vegetables and fruits in Qatar.
Dr Berry spoke to Qatar Tribune’s Satyendra Pathak about his plans for partnering with Qatari entities and his Group’s operations in Qatar. Excerpts:
Q: What is the idea behind choosing Qatar for your group’s agricultural operations?
A: There are reasons why we are here in Qatar and it’s not by chance. Qatar has been seeing a big push towards food security. We wanted to set up base at a place where the government is looking for global relevance and using technology to achieve excellence. We want to create a holistic agriculture hub in Qatar which remains sustainable even in the times of the COVID-19 pandemic.
We are collaborating with different stakeholders in Qatar, including government entities like Qatar Free Zones Authority (QFZA), to set up state-of-the-art plant tissue culture and bio inputs laboratory for supplying bio-fertiliser, bio-pesticides, plant growth promoters, and regulators to enhance agricultural production. Our bio fertiliser is very unique, especially customised for the Qatari soil to enhance yield. We will support precision farming. We have developed technologies that have been tried and tested and are working well on the ground in Qatar.
Q: How important is Qatar for your operations in this region?
We are working to make Qatar a hub for our concentration plant from where concentrates will be sent out to various blending plants across the globe. Given its strategic location and world-class logistics and infrastructure facilities like Hamad Port and Hamad International Airport, Qatar is emerging as an epicentre of global trade, including for agricultural produce. This coming together is a win-win situation for both sides. For the Greenfields, Qatar’s geographical location, locale, its pragmatic policies and a business-friendly environment offer an opportunity for long-term engagement. It also gives us a chance to work with authorities to build a world-class agricultural company.
Q: Will you own farms in Qatar or tie up with local agricultural entities?
We are the catalysts; our role in the whole thing is of catalysts. We will support the government’s projects and Qatari farmers to achieve self-sufficiency. Our products will be free of chemical contamination, which is very important. We are carrying chemical contamination-free stickers on all our products. We are not using chemicals in our products, which is why we call them ‘interventions’.
Q: When do you hope to start your operations in Qatar?
We don’t have a long gestation period. With regard to supplying to farmers locally, we have already started pilot projects. We are now ready to start in a much bigger way. We are in the process of starting to import bio-inputs, which we can bring in from our other plants in other parts of the world. Setting up a factory here in Qatar is not much time-consuming as the Qatar government’s policies are very investor-friendly.
Q: There are different ways of cultivation in Qatar. Which method is best suited for the country?
Qatar is blessed with natural resources as it’s sitting on gas, and therefore, energy cost is not prohibitive here. You just need to have ambient temperature control, which is not difficult to achieve. Instead of going vertical, we can grow it in troughs, tubs, shelves, like they grow mushrooms in India. We will bring in our greenhouse technology which is a combination of gas and solar. This would improve the efficiency of greenhouses. Once you are combining with solar, you are cutting on carbon emissions as well. We want to help Qatari farmers become more prosperous by using the pure and simple natural farming methods.
Q: Can you cite the specific benefits for Qatar?
For Qatar, it gives a chance to get international relevance and at the same time achieve food security. We are primarily focused on chemicals-free, healthy, immunity-building food crops.
Our aim is to make Qatar totally secure in food and produce surplus quantity to meet the rising demand globally. We are committed to helping the local farmers improve efficiency and quality. This would help Qatar achieve its food security target in the future.Key takeaways
? Tailor-made bio-inputs for
local Qatari soil
? Substantial reduction in water consumption at Qatari farms
? Drastic reduction of carbon footprint
? Improvement in overall soil hygiene
? Post COVID-19, demand for organic and natural food will increase by 25 percent
Qatar’s agriculture sector has since seen a boom and an increasing number of companies coming up with cutting-edge technologies and new business models to bring the country closer to its goal of attaining food security.
It was in this backdrop that Contec Global Group Chairman Dr Benoy Berry decided to enter the Qatari market and make it the hub of his company’s agricultural operations. The Contec Global Group entered Qatar through its agri-food arm, Greenfields, last year. Dr Berry and his team of committed officials are working diligently to put in place strategic reserves of perishables and select non-perishables with an aim to bring about qualitative changes in farming operations for a harvest of healthier food grains, vegetables and fruits in Qatar.
Dr Berry spoke to Qatar Tribune’s Satyendra Pathak about his plans for partnering with Qatari entities and his Group’s operations in Qatar. Excerpts:
Q: What is the idea behind choosing Qatar for your group’s agricultural operations?
A: There are reasons why we are here in Qatar and it’s not by chance. Qatar has been seeing a big push towards food security. We wanted to set up base at a place where the government is looking for global relevance and using technology to achieve excellence. We want to create a holistic agriculture hub in Qatar which remains sustainable even in the times of the COVID-19 pandemic.
We are collaborating with different stakeholders in Qatar, including government entities like Qatar Free Zones Authority (QFZA), to set up state-of-the-art plant tissue culture and bio inputs laboratory for supplying bio-fertiliser, bio-pesticides, plant growth promoters, and regulators to enhance agricultural production. Our bio fertiliser is very unique, especially customised for the Qatari soil to enhance yield. We will support precision farming. We have developed technologies that have been tried and tested and are working well on the ground in Qatar.
Q: How important is Qatar for your operations in this region?
We are working to make Qatar a hub for our concentration plant from where concentrates will be sent out to various blending plants across the globe. Given its strategic location and world-class logistics and infrastructure facilities like Hamad Port and Hamad International Airport, Qatar is emerging as an epicentre of global trade, including for agricultural produce. This coming together is a win-win situation for both sides. For the Greenfields, Qatar’s geographical location, locale, its pragmatic policies and a business-friendly environment offer an opportunity for long-term engagement. It also gives us a chance to work with authorities to build a world-class agricultural company.
Q: Will you own farms in Qatar or tie up with local agricultural entities?
We are the catalysts; our role in the whole thing is of catalysts. We will support the government’s projects and Qatari farmers to achieve self-sufficiency. Our products will be free of chemical contamination, which is very important. We are carrying chemical contamination-free stickers on all our products. We are not using chemicals in our products, which is why we call them ‘interventions’.
Q: When do you hope to start your operations in Qatar?
We don’t have a long gestation period. With regard to supplying to farmers locally, we have already started pilot projects. We are now ready to start in a much bigger way. We are in the process of starting to import bio-inputs, which we can bring in from our other plants in other parts of the world. Setting up a factory here in Qatar is not much time-consuming as the Qatar government’s policies are very investor-friendly.
Q: There are different ways of cultivation in Qatar. Which method is best suited for the country?
Qatar is blessed with natural resources as it’s sitting on gas, and therefore, energy cost is not prohibitive here. You just need to have ambient temperature control, which is not difficult to achieve. Instead of going vertical, we can grow it in troughs, tubs, shelves, like they grow mushrooms in India. We will bring in our greenhouse technology which is a combination of gas and solar. This would improve the efficiency of greenhouses. Once you are combining with solar, you are cutting on carbon emissions as well. We want to help Qatari farmers become more prosperous by using the pure and simple natural farming methods.
Q: Can you cite the specific benefits for Qatar?
For Qatar, it gives a chance to get international relevance and at the same time achieve food security. We are primarily focused on chemicals-free, healthy, immunity-building food crops.
Our aim is to make Qatar totally secure in food and produce surplus quantity to meet the rising demand globally. We are committed to helping the local farmers improve efficiency and quality. This would help Qatar achieve its food security target in the future.Key takeaways
? Tailor-made bio-inputs for
local Qatari soil
? Substantial reduction in water consumption at Qatari farms
? Drastic reduction of carbon footprint
? Improvement in overall soil hygiene
? Post COVID-19, demand for organic and natural food will increase by 25 percent