DOHA: Demand for fresh vegetables and fruits sold at the central market is going up, thanks to the rising population, but a welcome development has been that compared to last year vegetables are cheaper now.
Official figures released on Thursday show that consumption of fresh vegetables in November was up 16 percent over the monthly average.
Consumption in the month was 20,369 tonnes while the monthly average was 17,548 tonnes, said the Ministry of Economy and Commerce.
It added that the prices of fresh vegetables had come down by a nine percent in a year, until November (compared to November 2013).
India was the largest exporter with a share of a third (32 percent) of total imports, followed by Jordan (18 percent), Iran (12 percent), and Saudi Arabia and Pakistan (eight percent each).
Qatari vegetables that start coming to the market by November had a share of five percent and so was China’s share in total imports, according to the figures.
Fruit consumption was 5,572 tonnes in November, up seven percent over the previous month. The Philippines was the largest exporter as banana was on top of the list of the consumed items in the month. Other popular fruits consumed included apple, orange, lime and grapes and South Africa, China, Lebanon and France were major exporters.
Fruits were cheaper by nine percent compared to October, 2014. The ministry said that the prices of fish were also down five percent in November and those of meat and livestock were stable.
There was no mention of the popular Syrian meat and its place seems to have been taken by local meat and that imported from Saudi Arabia. They were selling for QR50 a kg whereas Indian and Pakistani meat were available for QR30 a kg on average.The Peninsula
