A view of the 6th Fresh Local Dates Festival 2021 at Souq Waqif.
Doha: The 6th Fresh Local Dates Festival 2021 continues at Souq Waqif and achieving record sales.
The average sales per day are about 9 tonnes and sometimes more. The festival will continue until July 30 with participation of 82 farms. The daily opening time is from 4pm to 10pm.
The festival offers many varieties of fresh dates at affordable prices, starting from QR7 and QR8 per kg. They include Khalas, Al Shishi, Al Khanizi, among others.
The Ministry of Municipality and Environment has provided some tips for harvesting of dates.
“Dates must be immediately stored after harvest under cold temperature to avoid it going bad. Direct sun light affects the outer exocarp,” the Ministry said. It also said that the optimal time to harvest dates is early morning or the evenings when temperatures are low.
High temperatures can affect soft fruits and rapidly spoil it when touched.
The Ministry emphasised that “dates are harvested when they are ripe, signalled by the edges of the fruit which should be mushy and dark-coloured.
