DOHA: The Ministry of Municipality (MoM), represented by the Department of Agricultural Affairs, has provided agricultural mechanization services to farmers, by securing new ploughs and special equipment in Umm Salal, Al Sheehaniya and Al Shamal centres for agricultural services.
The agricultural equipment provided by the Ministry of Municipality includes plough rails, plough transport vehicles, land levelling machines and their carriers (low beds), which are the equipment required by farmers for land preparation, ploughing and levelling operations, whether for open land, greenhouses or net halls.
Director of the Agricultural Affairs Department at the Ministry of Municipality Youssef Khaled Al Khulaifi said that the support provided to farmers comes within the framework of the strategy to develop the agricultural sector and keep pace with technology by using the best modern methods and means in agriculture. As part of its strategy, the department adopted an initiative to provide various agricultural mechanization services for the agricultural season 2023-2024, he explained.
He also indicated that the provision of agricultural mechanization service began this month for registered farms, by providing agricultural machinery and equipment such as tractors, ploughs and other equipment through the three agricultural service centres distributed according to the different geographical regions of the country (the northern centre in Zubarah, the central centre in Umm Salal, and the southern centre in Al Sheehaniya).
The Head of Guidance and Agricultural Services at the Agricultural Affairs Department, Ahmed Al Yafei, said that the agricultural mechanization service is provided to the farmer within a period ranging between two and four days after submitting a request for the service, as the waiting period has been greatly shortened, with the increase in the number of ploughs and agricultural equipment.
He underlined the importance of communicating with farm owners and providing services to ensure the land is ready. He noted that the equipment is working at a rate of six hours per day in all centres to accomplish the required work inside the farms according to the required need. The work completion rate in the three agricultural service centres has reached 90 percent since the beginning of this July, he pointed out.
The Agricultural Affairs Department at the Ministry of Municipality implements many initiatives, projects and services within the agricultural support plan provided to farm owners, the most prominent of which is the initiative to expand protected agriculture and modern irrigation systems, through the distribution of air-conditioned and regular greenhouses as well as the hydroponic system greenhouses, in addition to agricultural production requirements including seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, and some other supplies, such as packing boxes for marketing local vegetables in various sales outlets, and other requirements for selling the local agricultural product.