Kingdom of Bahrain

Date Palm cultivation in Bahrain is concentrated in the northern governorate, where approximately 65.7% of the total date palm trees are found. In this part of the country both soil and water are available in good condition. A collection of 100 varieties are grown in the different areas of the state with great diversity exist among them with regard to fruit size, color, quality, ripening and marketing time.

Out of these numbers only 7 varieties have been recognized for their commercial potential (Al-Moagy, Al-Begeira, Al-Ghora, Ekhlas, Al-khoneizy, Al-Marzaban & Al-Solamy).Transplants produced from seeds and off shoot are the major sources for new plantation. It was 1983 when the first transplant produced from tissue culture of Barhie variety was planted in Bahrain. A tissue culture laboratory was established in 1999, in Ministry of Public Affairs and Agriculture, resulting in the first tissue culture transplants, which are still in the vegetative growth period.

Agro management of date palm tree, fruiting and post harvest management of date palm fruits depend mainly on inherited experiences. Basin irrigation is the major technique used and only 27.6% of the total cultivated area use drip and/or bubbler irrigation. Water requirement was calculated as 50 m3/ tree per year. Only Manures were added to the soil at land preparation. Recent recommendation suggests the usage of a complete fertilizer (NPK) in the rate of 3-6 kg/ tree per year. Fruits are marketed and consumed fresh after harvest due to shortage in storage facilities.

Date palm improvement and expansion in State of Bahrain faces several constrains. Of these is the availability of good varieties, which when and if available are very costly. The lack of date palm tree services including the use of mechanization. The varieties planted are of poor quality and not suitable for packaging and industrialization. Limited good quality land is available for date palm growing. The prevailing non-favorable environmental conditions for date fruit ripening, and most importantly the lack of available technical manpower for better date palm tree treatment and services.

Future prospective includes the development of research tools for

  • Improved techniques of date palm propagation through tissue culture with emphasis on genetic stability and quantity and timing of production.
  • Increased awareness of date palm tree services, including agro-management practices, mechanization and management of flowering & fruiting.
  • Recognition and classification of the different pests & diseases that infest date palm trees
  • Improve post harvest management with the objective of improving marketing, and develop better utilization of by-products based on market surveys for such a products.
  • Identification, classification and finger printing of the local varieties, in line with the establishment of a gene bank. Use of new techniques for varieties improvement i.e. gene transfer especially in the area of adaptability to salinity, draught and pests.
  • Develop a data base management and expert system that cover all areas of date palm production.
 
 

United Arab Emirates

United Arab Emirates (UAE) made great progress in date palm plantation and production. Date palm trees are now planted in all over Emirates. The official estimate is over 40 million trees planted in rural and urban areas.

Emphasizing the importance of technology transfer, a tissue culture laboratory has been established at UAE University in 1989, where in 2003 produced around 100,000 transplants from different varieties. The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) in collaboration with El-Raghy Group started a tissue culture laboratory for producing date palm transplants and carried several research concerning the true to type of the date palm trees grown from tissue culture compared with one produced from off shoot. No differences were found in the physical & chemical properties of the fruit and the vegetative parts of the two types. Similar pattern continued for the second generation of the date palm grown from tissue culture.

Based on a long term experiment (since 1995), the agro management of the date palm tree services was set. Irrigation & fertilization program was prepared taking into consideration the age of the tree & the month of the year, the program could be adjusted to fit different type of soils. MAF approached the biological control method for pests & diseases control to reduce the usage of chemical pesticides.

Fruiting, post harvest management & the utilization of different date palm by-products has received great attention. The introduction of mechanical pollination, the usage of P. sylvestris as a male pollinator to improve fruit setting, fruit size and to enhance ripening was adopted. Effort is also made to improve fruit quality by thinning & bagging of bunches. Cold storage & Drying chambers are in wide use by different farmers to improve their income by marketing Rutab off season. The increases in number of manufacturers of date palm fruits have led to improved methods of packaging and marketing of the different products. Most of the date palm varieties are now planted in the research stations of MAF. The total number has reached 130 varieties, though only 15 of these have commercial potential.

Future prospective includes the development of research tools for

  • Date palm tree agro-management in terms of fertilization, irrigation practices and mechanization of tree services in such away to improve productivity (quantity and quality) of existing farms.
  • Develop techniques for improving productivity of second class varieties and identification of genetic variants for different commercial varieties with emphasis on improving adaptability to environmental stress.
  • Identification of the major pests & diseases other than red palm weevil that infect date palm trees & fruits either in the field, storage and at the market.
  • Improve methods of post harvest managements of date palm fruits to improve marketing at the off season period, provide techniques for industrialization of by-products with a market survey for such a product.
  • Finger printing of the major varieties in UAE.
  • Develop of a database system for varieties, research and expertise in the area of date palm production, management and marketing.
  • Build up an expert system for date palm tree production in the different areas of emirates. 
 
 

Sultanate of Oman

Date is the most important crop in the Sultanate of Oman. At present there are more than 8 million date palms, occupying 35630 ha. (48.1% of the total cultivated area).

Agro management practices of date palm in Oman follow the hereditary experience. Meanwhile, an increase in research activities have started in 1995, towards the identification and better management of the different date palm tree services i.e. water requirement, irrigation levels, water use efficiency, fertilization requirements head of the tree service i.e. pollination, thinning, pending and pruning. The maximization of date palm productivity in Oman is constrained by several factors Environmental constrains, especially the limited water resources, low soil fertility and improper addition of fertilizers,, small size farms, low quality of date palm varieties coupled with in experienced laborers, who are working at the farms

Through the realization of the unique germplasm collection of date palm in Oman, the Ministry of Agriculture and fisheries is willing to maintain the national heritage through the conservation of genetic resources and carrying out research for the improving and multiplication of this important crop. Two main institutes were established; The Tissue Culture laboratory in 1992 followed by the Biotechnology Laboratory in 2000 for the purpose of mass propagation, establishment of genetic map characterization of Omani genetic resources and the molecular detection of infestation in date palm. A Date Palm Research Station was established in1998 for the purpose of producing offshoots for the replacement program, supplying explants material for mass propagation and conservation of Omani cultivars. Accordingly, 30’000 date palm plantlets were produced yearly and the morphological classification of 45 cultivars was accomplished. The shortage in major equipment (DNA analyzer), trained staff and unavailability of a framework between the different laboratories impose constrains on the development of the biotechnology research development in Oman. Date palm plantations have been suffering from number of pests and diseases infestation, mainly due to close spacing and high density plantation & excessive irrigation. Those of major economic importance affecting growth and yield of date palm qualitatively and quantitavely are Dubas Bug, Red Palm Weevil, Lesser Date moth, Old World Date Mite, wilts associated with Ceratocystis and Leaf spot diseases.With the importance of date palm to the agricultural sector in Oman, the improvement in techniques for harvesting, post harvesting and handling, marketing and storage deserve more attention. The absence of a comprehensive quality control program resulted in, farmers ignoring extension recommendations. The lack of new products and the higher production cost reduced the competitive advantage of the local date palm production and discouraged investment in this area. Future prospective includes

  • Develop an agro management program for date palm tree services, application of the quality control and increase capacity building to reduce the cost of production.
  • Supporting the national program for replacement of the old, lower quality date palm plantation with new cultivar through the support of the tissue culture laboratory
  • Recognition and classification of the different pests & diseases that infest date palm trees fruits and methods of control through IPM techniques.
  • The need for the expansion in the gene bank field and maintenance of its facility, genome mapping of the most important Omani date palm cultivars and the introduction of new date palm varieties tolerant to biotic and abiotic stresses.
  • Develop an effective extension service for Omani date palm growersState of Qatar
 
 

State of Qatar

Date Palm plantations represent 71% from the total area planted with fruit trees. Total area cultivated approx. 1366 ha (Containing 335765 trees bearing fruits & 146955 non productive trees).  Most cultivation are in the North & Middle area of the state where environmental conditions are favorable, soil has deep profile with low salinity compared with other parts of the country.

A tissue culture laboratory has been established under the Agriculture & Water Research Directorate (AWRD), Ministry of Public Work & Agriculture, with main objective of providing Date Palm transplants & preservation of natural resources. A survey of the morphological & physiological diversity in the different Date Palm species had been carried out. Moreover, propagation methods, explants physiological behaviour and acclimatization of transplants are under evaluation. Lower response of Date Palm explants for ontogeny in the media, the differentiation in between the different species at the early stages in culture & pre-fruiting and lower percentage of success in rooting & acclimatization of the new transplants are the major constrains facing the laboratory. With the great importance of Date Palm and the increase in area cultivated most agro management practices depend on inherited experience and recommendations from different places that might be different in conditions than Qatar. Water requirement is calculated according to equations that take into consideration environmental areas, soil type and water salinity by Water Research Dept., AWRD. No studies or research has been done due to the lack of special department for pests & diseases in the AWRD. Post harvest management & handling, marketing, packaging and utilization of by-products faces constrains due to seasonal consumption, lower productivity and marketing. Future prospective includes the development of research tools for

  • Date palm agro management especially in the area of fertilization, irrigation, water requirements & adaptation to salinity, mechanization of tree services, pollination, fertilization & fruiting.
  • Improving the efficiency of date palm explants in culture, identifying the genetic variance in between the different species.
  • Setting the IPM techniques for the various pests & diseases and methods for identifying & controlling weeds in date palm cultivation.
  • Favourable storage conditions, increasing the seasonable consumption duration and develop techniques for the best use of the different products of date palm tree.
 
 

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Date palm production in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is considered the most important economic support for the agricultural sector and one of the major incomes for farmers and others. Date palm plantations cover an area around 141’000 ha (15% of the total world area, 2002) and supporting 18 million date palm trees. The total production is estimated at approximately 829’000 tons (13% of the total world production, 2002) and the export is around 33’000 tons giving a revenue about 20’000’000 US$.

A limited research has been done on the agro management practices of date palm trees i.e. NPK fertilization, tree services (pollination, pruning and thinning), in addition to, the identification of water requirements for date palm in the different region of the kingdom. With the importance of date palm, the area of agro management practices has not received the appropriate attention. This is due to shortage in trained and qualified personnel and laborers on modern date palm tree services. There is limited number of good commercial varieties, despite the increased number of local varieties. Date palm mechanization is lacking and date palm research is localization to certain areas of the country. Most seriously is the belief among farmers that date palm does not require fertilization and/or irrigation. Production of transplants, from different commercial varieties i.e. Agwa, Anbara, Sheishi and al-Khalas & Al-Sokary, has received great attention from government and private companies (Al-Raghy BioTech & Sabad Al-Gomez) are producing a considerable number of this transplant.

The most important pests & diseases that infest date palm in KSA have been identified as red palm weevil (RPW), the longhorn date palm borer, the lesser & greater date moth, fruit stalk borer, Almond moth, dust mite, fusarium wilt &  Al Wijam disease. Lack of adequate knowledge regarding the behavior and life cycle of most of these pests and diseases, and the lack of efficient IPM control Programs have resulted in the spread of such pests and diseases in different regions of the kingdom.

The absence of a germplasm conservation bank for the most KSA varieties and the lack of research in the area of developing improved varieties (tolerant to environmental stresses), testing the existing varieties for potential improvement, identifying means for controlling male trees production and finger printing of date palm varieties are the major constrains for biotechnology improvement in date palm production in K.S.A.

Future prospective includes the development of research tools for

  • Capacity building of national institute and personnel in the area of date palm agro management especially in the area of date palm orchard & trees services and provide new ways for market development and understanding.
  • Develop techniques for improving transplants produced from tissue culture, identifying true to type varieties and production of male pollinator with higher Metaxenia ability and improve the technical supply of the national institute.
  • Increase the awareness about the harmful effect of date palm tree infestation with the different pests & diseases and develop an IPM program for the control of major pests & diseases. Improve the technical competence of personnel working in the sector.
  • Identification, classification and finger printing of the local varieties in line with the establishment of a gene bank. Use of new techniques for varieties improvement i.e. gene transfer especially in the area of adaptability to salinity, draught and pests.
  • Develop a data base management and expert system that cover all areas of date palm production.