Qatari firm eyes shrimp, fish production

Nasser Ahmed al-Khalaf

Agrico, a private Qatari agricultural development company established in 2011, aims to produce around 800 tonnes of fresh shrimps and fish (tilapia) annually, boosting the country’s food security efforts. “Hopefully by the end of this year, we will start the harvest over 10,000sqm. The production will be around 350 tonnes per year of vannamei shrimp, a freshwater shrimp,” prominent agriculturist and Agrico managing director Nasser Ahmed al-Khalaf told Gulf Times. He was speaking on the sidelines of the eighth edition of Qatar's International Agricultural Exhibition (AgriteQ) and International Environmental Exhibition (EnviroteQ), which will conclude on Saturday at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre. Al-Khalaf said Agrico’s shrimp production will cater to at least one-third of the total local consumption of fresh shrimps, estimated at 1,000 tonnes annually. However, he noted that Qatar’s population consumes more frozen shrimps than fresh.