Web posted at: 6/4/2009 7:2:13 Source ::: THE PENINSULA/ By Nasser Al Harthy
Jamal Mohamad Al Sada, Executive Director, Corporate Services, at Hassad Food, cutting a ribbon to mark the opening of Hassad Qatar Headquarters, yesterday. (Salim Matramkot)

DOHA: Hassad Qatar, a company established to achieve current and future food security for the country, has launched new projects at Al Sailiya, Al Refaa and Umm Salal.

In addition to the expansion of Arkiya Farm, the company will also be utilising tripartite treated water in its ambitious goal to achieve self-sufficiency in green fodder for the local market.

“The local market’s requirement for fodder is approximately 60,000 tonnes per year, while only about 6,000 tonnes a year is produced locally,” Jamal Mohamad Al Sada, Executive Director, Corporate Services, at Hassad Food told reporters here yesterday.

Al Sada is confident the company will be able to achieve self-sufficiency in terms of green fodder sometime in 2011 or 2012 and thus cutting down reliance on imports.

He said Hassad Qatar, which is the local arm of the mother company Hassad Food, will be focusing initially on green fodder to meet the country’s market demand, because currently even with imports from neighbouring countries, it is sometimes difficult to meet the demand for fodder.

Hassad Food has launched ambitious plans to produce wheat and other grains in Sudan and Australia. Studies on the economic viability of similar projects in other countries such as in South America, South Africa and Turkey are being considered.

Al Sada also said that Hassad Qatar would eventually expand with projects that would include poultry, milk and its derivatives, flowers, livestock and other agricultural products.

Al Sada was speaking at the soft launch of the new headquarters of Hassad Qatar located on Al Waab Street, opposite Hyatt Plaza, next to Garden Petrol Station yesterday.

Hassad Qatar has successfully expanded its 162-acre Arkiya Farm project by importing and installing two nine-tower, 132-acre central irrigation systems and one 30-acre central irrigation system. In addition the company has constructed a new reservoir to increase its treated water storage capacity from 21,000 to 73,500 cubic metres.

The expanded area will produce 35,000 pales every harvest, a total of around 280,000 pale (5,600 tonnes) per year with its first harvest due in September. Following the new investment and expansion, the total annual Arkiya Farm production will reach 10,400 tonnes of Rodes fodder.

The success of Arkiya Farm has motivated Hassad Qatar to begin similar projects in various regions of Qatar. Therefore the company is executing three new projects at Alsaileya, Alrefaa and Umm Salal commencing in July this year. In total, the three new projects will cover a planted area of 275.5 acres, in addition to 15 acres at Umm Salal.

Announcing the company’s first harvest of Rodes and Barsim crops, in January 2009, the production reached 18,000 pale, while a second harvest in March 2009 produced 36,000 pale.

Meanwhile, the company’s Umm Salal project is cultivating Bioponic fodder as a further fodder option and is currently studying how its livestock adapt to the new foodstuff. The company believes Bioponic fodder will help diversify its animal food sources, reducing imports and reducing costs for livestock owners.

Bioponics is simple and innovative system of food production combining acquaculture and hydroponic-a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions, without soil-growing techniques without expensive equipment.