Food products from a poultry farm taking shape in Sharjah will be more expensive as they will be free of any growth-inducing hormones. The farm will form the third phase of a plan that will see cow-breeding and poultry projects come up near the massive wheat farm in Mleiha.
“Other farms produce poultry in 27 days as growth accelerators are added to the chickens, causing them to swell. The growth process of our chickens on this farm takes 70 days because they are fed naturally from green spaces,” said Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah.
The three farms that form the project will complement each other, said the Ruler. The idea is simple: The hay from the wheat farm will feed the cows; and manure from the cows will fertilise the soil of the wheat farm.
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“Their products are all organic — free of external additives,” said the Sharjah Ruler during a radio programme.
Sheikh Dr Sultan visited the wheat farm, where the produce is getting ready to be harvested. About 37 lines covering 1,900 hectares will produce the Middle East’s first fully organic wheat. Its flour has the highest protein content of 18 per cent.
Hay produced here can feed over 1,000 cows. The cow farm will produce “high-quality organic milk free of any … additions”. The cows grown here will be “an original breed”.
The poultry farm will produce chickens free of chemical or other artificial procedures, he added.