Local organic produce to arrive in the market soon

The project was initiated and developed by Al Qudra Agriculture, a division of Al Qudra Holding.

According to Dr. Abdulaziz Al Harbi, consultant and board member of Al Qudra Holding, the first organic crops will include a few varieties of green salad, cucumber, tomatoes and sweet pepper, which will be available in the market this summer.

“Right now, we are looking to get the international quality certificates, like Ecocert or Globalgap, which will recognise the organic quality of our products worldwide,” said Dr Al Harbi. Once the products are certified as organic, they may be labelled and sold, either locally or exported.

Unlike ordinary foods, which are grown using various forms of chemicals such as fertilisers, pesticides and even hormones and form the bulk of food items available in the market or unlike genetically modified foods, which in the UAE do not require labelling, organic products are free of any chemicals.

Since it takes more manpower and generally more care to grow organic foods, they are usually more expensive.

Dr Al Harbi is convinced, though, that these will become popular here, simply because they are healthier and tastier. “There is a big price gap between local products and overseas imports and this is where we will fit in,” he said, explaining that Al Qudra organic vegetables will be more expensive than ordinary local products, but cheaper than international ones, while the quality will be higher.

Al Qudra Agriculture is growing its organic crops in the Al Shwaib area near Al Ain. “We have bought the latest technology for production, using glass greenhouses, rather than plastic, which offer better control of the environment,” Al Harbi stated.

Engineer Mohammed Al Rasheed, Vice-Chairman of Al Qudra Agriculture, added that the first step is to create awareness and explain to the public what is organic food and why is it better than ordinary products. “We will soon launch a campaign of educating the consumer about organic fruit and vegetables,” he pointed out.