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Date palm has been deeply rooted in the Arabian Peninsula region’s economy, history and culture since ancient times. Worldwide, the total date palm cultivated area estimates over one million ha, 60% of which is in the Arab world. There are 105 million date palm trees in the Gulf Cooperating Council (GCC) countries planted over an area of 365 thousand hectares, representing 33% of global area of date palm. The global production of dates has nearly tripled in the last two decades and reached 6.4 million tons in the year 2003, out of which 63% is from the Arab world. The GCC countries produce 1.9 million tones, representing 29% of the global production. |
Since its establishment in 1977, ICARDA serves all dry areas of the world for the improvement of agricultural production systems through research, training and dissemination of information in partnership with the national agricultural research and development systems. ICARDA has expanded its crop mandate to accommodate research in horticultural crops, including Date Palm, to serve the particular need of the Arabian Peninsula (AP) countries. |
ICARDA’s Arabian Peninsula Regional Program (APRP) was established in 1988 to address the region’s needs for research and technology transfer on water resources management; range lands, forage and livestock; and protected agriculture. These themes are supported by research in agro ecological characterization and stress physiology. Emphasis is also given to institutional strengthening and capacity building, human resources development and information technology. |
Due to date palm economic and social importance, the GCC countries ranked date palm as a research priority for further development of crop production and protection, using the best approach that modern science and technology can provide. |
ICARDA organized a Regional Workshop on Date Palm Development in the Arabian Peninsula with the following objectives: |
| | · Review the current situation and identify problems and constraints associated with date palm development in the region |
| | · Review the state-of-the-art for research and technologies by recognized scientists |
| | · Bring together researchers and international experts to exchange information and ideas on date palm development for the AP region |
| | · Prioritize research activities on date palm for the AP region and identify the components for the proposed project |
The scientific themes addressed by the workshop were: |
| | · Propagation & crop management |
| | · Crop protection & integrated pest management (IPM) |
| | · Post harvest, marketing and processing of date palm added value products |
| | · Biotechnology and germplasm conservation |
| | · Information technology & expert systems |
The workshop was held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Nahayan bin Mabarak Al Nahayan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Chancellor of UAE University and in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (UAE); UAE University and GCC General Secretariat in Abu Dhabi 29-31 May 2004. |
As an outcome of these activities, a research and development project proposal entitled “Development of Sustainable Date Palm Production Systems in The GCC of the Arabian Peninsula” has been developed with the following components: |
| | · Research solving problems |
| | · Technology transfer; and |
| | · Capacity building |
This workshop was a major step in the right direction for the GCC countries; ICARDA and the national and international experts to build technically sound and efficient project for further improvement of date palm in the region. |
This report is a consolidation of all reports and scientific papers presented at the Regional Workshop. |
I would like to seize this opportunity to extend ICARDA’s appreciation to H.H. Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahayan, president of UAE, for his wisdom and endless support for date palm tree, where the numbers have exponentially increased in less than three decades and for his keen interest in introducing modern science and technologies to the date palm industry. |
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| | Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy |
| | Director General |
| | ICARDA |