The owners of a farmer confirmed that the decision of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, to allocate sections to display local products in stores and commercial markets, supports the citizen farmer, and enhances the opportunity of the national product to compete with the imported product in the state markets.
But they stressed that the national product is still facing real challenges, needing other similar steps, most notably facilitating the recruitment of workers, especially in the season of planting and harvesting, and opening the way to ensure agricultural engineers and veterinarians on farms.
They also called for support measures for farmers in the northern emirates, and for the allocation of markets for national products, as do Abu Dhabi farmers.
In detail, the food security expert and the owner of an organic farm, Dr. Khaled Al Shamsi, affirmed that the decision to allocate sections in commercial stores and markets to national agricultural products is positive at all levels.
He added that he needs to form a work team to follow up its implementation, encourage the local agricultural sector, and find out the requirements and developments to support its implementation in the markets.
He continued, "The decision guarantees that farmers will not abandon the agricultural profession, because of the losses they incurred as a result of their inability to market their agricultural products, and this appears in the fact that the Emirate of Abu Dhabi hosts more than 24 thousand farms, while it does not work and produces only a few."
He added, "What is happy for workers in the agricultural sector is the rapid response of decision makers and the decisions that support them, because the decision to allocate sections for local agricultural products came quickly after the owners of farms presented the challenges facing them through the (Emirates Today) Ramadan Council."
The owner of “Garcia’s Farm,” Hamed Al-Hamed, confirmed that the decision of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan represents a great support for Emirati farmers, “because the most important challenges facing them lie in the difficulty of reaching the UAE product to the consumer, and therefore the farmer is forced to sell one product For a marketing medium, which allows the latter to take advantage of his inability to deliver his products to consumers, so he buys them from him at the lowest prices.
He explained that «a marketing company buys a kilogram of option, for example, at 50 fils, while its price in the market reaches five dirhams, and then the lowest price value for this product is given to farmers», explaining that «the decision increases the chances of the local agricultural product reaching To the consumer, which leads to an improvement in prices, and increases the experiences of farmers in the aspect of selling from various aspects, including packaging and quality.
The head of the Ras Al Khaimah Agricultural Society and the owner of a farm, Abdullah Khalfan Al Shariqi, said: “The decision requires that large stores provide facilities for farmers to rent to display their agricultural products.” He added that “the local product is characterized by being fresh, whether it is vegetables, meat, poultry, eggs or Others, and then the stores must give it priority, in addition to the need to tighten control over the classification of products, because some of them are imported and written on it (local) ».
He called for supporting feed for poultry and livestock in the northern emirates, as is the case in Abu Dhabi, in addition to subsidizing electricity, whose prices in the northern emirates reach 40 fils, while the electricity price in Abu Dhabi is less than 15 fils.
He added that production inputs, such as seeds and fertilizers, are the biggest challenges facing farmers, even though the country is one of the most advanced countries in the field of support, especially in the field of technical supervision of imports of local markets, whether they are pesticides, fertilizers or seeds.
He pointed out that the UAE is comparable to the developed countries in the field of agriculture, because farmers find in the markets a great diversity in everything related to agricultural requirements.
The owner of an organic farm, Rashid al-Ketbi, considered that the decision to allocate places for displaying national agricultural products is positive and supportive to farmers, adding that "the biggest effect is agricultural products imported from outside the country, because their prices are significantly lower than the price of the national product."
He explained that the reason for the high price of the national product is that salaries in the Emirates are high compared to salaries in other countries, and that farmers cannot bring in foreign workers, especially during times of cultivation and harvest, as is the case in other countries.
He stressed the need to take measures to support farmers in the northern emirates, and to allocate markets for national products, "so that the consumer knows that they only offer Emirati products, and that they are supported by the state, without fees or costs to farmers", pointing out that "this contributes to facilitating the sale of the local product". ».
He saw that organic farming in the UAE is one of the most successful crops in the world, whether in vegetables or fruits, and can compete in foreign markets.
Few notes
Farmers emphasized that «the UAE is one of the leading countries in terms of supporting agriculture, as electricity in Abu Dhabi farms is subsidized, and the water is free, and each farm is given about 7,000 dirhams per month, and the cost of recruiting auxiliary labor for the farms is low, whether recruitment fees or residence costs.
They added that «there are a few notes that it is necessary for the competent authorities to provide solutions to them, including the inability of the farm to sponsor agricultural engineers or veterinarians, which compels the owner of the farm to obtain a commercial license in order to guarantee it to the engineers or veterinarians required for his farm, and then the cost increases in a way Big". They said: "We call on the competent authorities to raise the ceiling of the number of workers recruited to the farm, so that the number is appropriate for the nature of work on the farm, as it is not permitted at the present time only seven workers for the farm." They also called for providing support to each farm, according to its productivity, at three levels. “The regular productive farm receives the specified support at 7,000 dirhams, the more productive farm receives twice the amount, and the farm that uses technology and modern farming systems has twice the support for it, according to specific criteria it sets Competent authorities".
They added that «it is necessary to define a specific level for the Emirati farm (the model of the Emirati farm), and to issue a certificate in its name that will be granted to each farm that applies the standards set for it at the country level».
Organic agriculture in the UAE is one of the most successful crops in the world ... and able to compete abroad.