Females dominate animal kingdom

Unlike the human world, where males are nearly double the females in the UAE, the animal kingdom in the emirates is dominated by females which are considered by farmers as more productive and profitable.

In the world of plants, the UAE, thanks to ambitious farming programmes, is emerging as a major producer of tomato and other vegetables and fruits, supporting its position as one of the biggest producers of date in the world.

Figures by the Ministry of Planning showed female camels, sheep and goats outnumber males by nearly five times while the gap is much smaller in cows given their relatively low number.

At the end of 2001, the UAE had around 207,446 camels, including nearly 178,308 females, used mainly in the production of milk and meat. Strong males and females are trained for the popular desert camel races.

In its annual report for 2002, the Ministry estimated camel meat production at around 13,850 tonnes in 2001, while milk output exceeded 35,000 tonnes.

The figures showed that goats were the most numerous among the livestock, totalling around 1.2 million at the end of 2001. Females goats were nearly five times male goats, with their number estimated at 1.04 million.

Female goats included around 574,000 milking animals, with a combined production of nearly 31,500 tonnes of milk and 6,200 tonnes of meat last year.

Females were also more numerous in sheep, estimated at around 380,000 at the end of 2001, compared with around 86,000 male sheep. Nearly 216,000 females were milking animals, yielding over 10,000 tonnes of milk last year.

The cow population is the smallest in the UAE's farm animal kingdom, standing at around 101,000 at the end of 2001. Females were estimates at 60,500, including around 50,000 milking animals.

In agriculture, the report showed the UAE remained one of the biggest date producers in the world, with the number of palm trees exceeding 40 million.

In the world of plants, the UAE, thanks to ambitious farming programmes, is emerging as a major producer of tomato and other vegetables and fruits, even as its date production continues to grow.

The date palms in the country include what the report termed as 16.3 million productive trees, yielding over 757,000 tonnes of date with valued at Dh1.9 billion ($517 million) in 2001.

Although they grow mainly in cooler and fertile areas, lime and other citrus fruits emerged as the second biggest crop, with the number of trees standing at around 325,000 producing nearly 22,000 tonnes of citrus fruits.

Another key product is mango, with nearly 136,000 trees and an output of 9100 tonnes last year. The report showed the UAE also produced other products originally quite alien to the desert, such as almonds, figs, grapes, and bananas.

Farming programmes, heavily financed by the government and encouraged by President His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, have also produced substantial results in vegetable cultivation, with total production standing at nearly 580,000 tonnes in 2000-01.

Tomato was by far the biggest product, with an output of around 331,000 tonnes during 2000-01, valued at Dh513 million ($140 million).

Other key products included around 34,500 tonnes of onion, 28,500 tonnes of cabbage, 27,400 tonnes of squash, 24,000 tonnes of cucumber, 20,230 tonnes of eggplant, 16,500 tonnes of Jew's mallow, 12,500 tonnes of cauliflower, 11,500 tonnes of potato, 7,500 tonnes of radish, and more than 15,000 tonnes of pepper, parsley, lettuce, carrot, bean and okra.

As a whole, the value of the UAE's plant and animal production totalled around Dh4.8 billion ($1.3 billion) and Dh1.57 billion ($427 million) respectively in 2001. Fish output was valued at around Dh1.11 billion ($302 million).

This means the total output of the farming sector exceeded three per cent of the gross domestic product of around Dh248 billion ($67.5 billion) last year.