A Date With Dates

It’s a pure co-incidence I say!  As I prepare this blogpost, I came across a news that a week long annual “Date Festival” has begun at Liwa Oasis, in the emirate of Abu Dhabi on 17^th July.

 

Newly Planted Palms

Palms along the road side

Fresh dates, About to get ripe

A Palm Too Young To Give Fruits

The date palm culture has thousand years of history in United Arab Emirates.  The date palm cultivation dates to 3000 B.C. in Iraq (Mesopotamia)

 

A Bumper Yield

Ripened Fruits Going Waste

Few facts on dates and date palms:

Ø      Before oil discovery, date palms were used for all purposes
Ø      There are 40 million date palms in U.A.E. of which 33 million palms are in Abu Dhabi Emirate alone
Ø      During the first week of August of each year, there is an annual Date Festival organized at Liwa, where date growers present their various products.
Ø      Date Palm trees supply an average of two thirds of income of people living in the Sahara.
Ø      Date Palm provides protection to under-crops from harsh climate (heat, wind and even cold weather)
Ø      For proper maturing of fruit, the date requires summer heat and low humidity during the ripening period.
Ø      Date fruits are pleasant in taste, natural and healthy; provide good digestive effect due to rich fiber content in them.
Ø      U.A.E. exports its dates to India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Pakistan.
Ø      There are 150 date varieties
Ø      The date palm tree is also used extensively as an ornamental tree
Ø      To produce quality fruits, climate should be of very little rain and needs to be hot.
Ø      The date palms consume large amounts of water.
Ø      The date palms can even survive in subfreezing temperatures.

A Perfect Palm!

Telecom Antennas camouflage as Palm Tree

 Another Perfect Palm in Ajman

Data Courtesy: www