Tissue culture techniques boost date harvest sharply

The development of cloning has led to a big increase in the UAE date harvest. Date palm cultivation is well suited to the application of a wide range of modern technologies, and tissue culture is one that has been applied to increase the yield, according to the UAE Year Book for 2000-01.

The date palm is a traditional symbol of the UAE and its most important crop. The UAE produces 37 types of dates from 33.7 million palms in Abu Dhabi and 6.3 million in the Northern Emirates.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries has improved the quality of a wide variety of dates. Of the 120 varieties studied at research laboratories in the Hamraniyah, Dibba and Dhaid areas, the ministry has short-listed 10 varieties, including Khalass, Barehi, Shishi, Khanezi, Lulu, Farth, Buman, Jabri, Khsaab and Nagal as having export potential.

These varieties are being propagated using tissue culture technology that was introduced in 1989. The yearbook said that from its introduction, the technology has brought about a surge in date yields.

Al Wathba Marionnet, a joint venture between the UAE Offset Group and Giat Industries of France, is at the forefront of this "agricultural revolution" that employs tissue culture cloning.

The company sought to export 200,000 to 300,000 palms throughout the Middle East last year. It has distribution centres for its seeding palms in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. At the end of 1999, cultivated land in the UAE stood at 2,359,479 hectares, divided into 28,396 farms.

The ministry has been encouraging farmers to cultivate only those varieties of dates which are in demand. It has also made strides in reducing wastage of date crops, a problem that has long affected farmers.

The ministry also conducts training programmes and workshops to introduce modern technology to farmers, especially in techniques for mechanised packing and pollination. Vacuum packing is becoming a standard procedure, together with plastic houses for quick drying of dates.