Buraidah: Only three days left for the flag-off of the World Date Festival organized by Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture Qaseem Branch and Culinary Arts Authority under the supervision of Provincial Governorate. The fair will end on 30th of this month. Global Dates Festival-2022 Chairman Bandar Alhadaya told ‘Gulf Madhyama’ that 120 crore riyals worth of dates were marketed during the festive season, which brought great benefits to farmers and traders in the region.
He explained that demand due to stock-outs in the world market during the Covid recession and quality of dates due to lack of rain in Qasim province this summer contributed to the high level of trade. Qasim’s own product ‘Sukari’, which is very popular and delicious in the world market, accounted for 80 percent of the auctioned amount. Among them, the first-class box of about seven kilograms was priced up to 1,100 riyals. About 45 varieties including ‘Sakhee’ and ‘Majdul’, which are famous for their size and taste, have reached the market.
The chief executive officer of the organizing committee, Mohammad Almushaithi, said that the success of the festival is a realization of the vision of ‘Vision 2030’ to significantly increase the country’s non-oil income. Representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia Stesinyagin, Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Ghana Muhammad Habib Tijani and foreign media representatives visited Utsavanagari. It is estimated that three lakh tons of dates are produced annually in thousands of plantations in the region.
The fair city has an area of 15,000 square meters and has the facility to park more than 2,000 vehicles and around 1000 vehicles in the export yard. The organizers said that around 1500 young women have actively participated in this year’s fair and have made financial gains. It is noteworthy that even after the end of the fair, the needy can buy products for two months from the market in the city itself.