Where modern methods are applied with traditional skill

With the onset of the flowering season of date palms, farmers in the Sultanate have been engaged in the pollination process. They apply modern methods and traditional skills in pollinating female trees in order to ensure good yield of high quality dates. Over the years the farmers have perfected ftr4t4e545 the technique and improved the yield of date palms, which constitute the major agricultural crop of the Sultanate with about 57 per cent of the total cultivated area in the country. During the pollination season farmers of many villages known for date palm cultivation actively participate in the activity. Farmers are quick to do this before the summer heat gets intensified. Normally the season of date production begins in May every year. Oman is the first Arab Gulf country where date production begins early thanks to its bio-diversity. Availability of water, green surroundings and luxurious environment help trees flower early and start production. The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries is making great efforts by conducting studies and researches with a view to improving date palm production from advanced varieties. In addition, the date palm sector is given top priority because of its importance as a major source of national income. As part of its efforts, the government is implementing projects such as replanting of date palms, besides introduction of high quality varieties. During February-March each year village souqs have an unusual commodity, date palm pollen. The usual mode of sale is in the form of the whole flower spathe from the male palm. The local name is tal-la and the pollen is nabat. The spathe is a greenish brown flattened sheath, 40 to 70 cm, long, narrowing at the ends and in some cases with a substantial bulge in the middle. This protects the date palm flowers as they develop, as the sepals on a flower protect the petals before they open. Both male and female palms bear these spathes, they appear from the bases of the palm leaves towards the top of the palm. Obviously the female flowers have to be left on the palm to develop. However as most of the date palms are female plants and wind-born pollination is erratic, to ensure a good crop artificial pollination is carried out. The male flower pollen is not Dates-3 affected by being severed from the palm and is still viable. Inside the spathe dozens of spikelets are lined with small male flowers. Traditionally to pollinate a spathe on a female palm, a piece of mature male spikelet is inserted into the female spathe as it splits open and loosely binding the spathe so that DSCN0535 it is not disturbed as the flowers on the female spikelets are pollinated. Blossoming takes a month or more depending on the intensity of heat. The hotter the weather, the shorter the blossoming period. Some date palms blossom twice a year while the majority take as long as three months to complete the single blossoming process. The amount of fruit yielded by a date palm depends on the quantity of nutrients it receives and general care and environment. A well looked after date palm can yield as many as 20 bunches of fruit. Date palms yield fruit in alternate years, producing in a year and resting in the next.