Date Palm

DATE PALM

Date palm is one of the oldest fruits known to mankind, many thousand years before Christ. It originated probably somewhere around the Persian gulf and became naturalised in Arabia and North Africa in very early times. The Arabs introduced it to Spain, and in turn was introduced into United States by the Spanish in 1765. Iraq, Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Pakistan, Sudan, Morocco, U.S.A., Spain and Mexico are the major date e producing countries. In India, the arid areas of Jodhpur, Bikaner, Ganganagar, Barmer, Jaisalmer,
Kachchh and Bhuj regions are ideal for date palm cultivation. The world production of dates is estimated to be over 2,435,000 tonnes.
Date palm is a tall, unbranched, robust tree, attaining a height of 30 m or so. The trunk is surrounded by persistent rhomboidal leaf bases
and surmounted by a crown of 100-120 large, pinnate, feathery leaves. The plants are dioecious. The inflorescences of both sexes are essentially alike, consisting of a much branched axillary panicle, enclosed by a spathe. The male plant produces 30-50 inflorescences, whereas the female only 8-12. Male plants are necessary in close proximity of female plants for fruit setting. The fruit is a drupe, 2.5-7.5 cm long.
Date palm can be grown in nearly all kinds of soils but sandy loams are preferable. The plant requires hot climate and good irrigation. An average temperature of 30°C is essential for proper ripening of fruits. Mature trees do not require water and therefore plants grow successfully in deserts.
Date palm is usually propagated from suckers or seeds. Seeds are sown in nursery and seedlings are transplanted after one to three years. For propagation by suckers, offshoots developing at the bases of young plants are removed and when

they are 3 – 6 years old, they are transplanted at 8 – 12 m spacing. The tree begins to fruit when 5 – 7 years old, 10 -15 years old plants reach to full bearing, and continue bearing up to the age of 80 years. Fruits set can be improved by tying clusters of male flowers to female
inflorescences or by brushing pollen directly on to female flowers with a pollen duster. Date palm flowers from February to June and fruits ripen from June to December. Developing fruits are often bagged in paper or net to protect them
from birds and other pests. The fruits are hard and green at first but later turn soft and yellow or red. They are usually hand-picked.
After picking, dates are cured in open sunlight or artificially in an oven. In artificial curing, moisture and temperature are carefully
regulated. During ripening process sugar develops and astringent tannins become insoluble.
Soft date palm varieties – Halawy, Khadrawy, Medjool, Shamran and Zahidi are in great demand for cultivation in India, but availability of their planting material is a limiting factor. During the last 15 years, over 2,000 date palm offshoots of exotic varieties have been imported which is expensive and has no promise of germplasm potential. Hence, propagation through tissue – culture methods are being tried. In India, the Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Jodhpur has developed a method for the mass propagation of
date palm through repetitive somatic embryogenesis and efforts are also being made to develop synthetic seeds of date palm which could produce only the female plants.
Dates are usually classified as soft, semi- dry and dry, on the basis of their moisture contents. On an average, dates consist of 70.6%
carbohydrates, 1.9% proteins, 2.5% fats, 13.8% water, 10.0% fibres and 1.2% ashes. Besides they contain vitamins A, B₁, B, and nicotinic acid.
Dates are staple food of the Arabs. They are rich in sugars and eaten fresh or dried. They are also used in bakery and confectionery and made into jams and preserves. They are demulcent, expectorant and laxative and are useful in respiratory diseases and fever. Seeds (stones) when ground or softened by soaking in water are used for feeding camels, goats, and horses and are also used as a poultry feed. Date paim sap is sweet, nutritive and laxative and is used for the preparation of jaggery and sugar. The leaves are used for thatching and for making mats, fans, baskets, ropes, etc. and the trunks to build walls, rafters, doors, shutters and fence posts. The paste
of the seeds is applied for opacity of the cornea, and to relieve headaches and hermicrania.