September 2, 2004

Recently, the city government planted fully-grown date palms in Karachi, brought from the interior of Sindh and from Balochistan. Dr A. A. Quraishy writes about these hardy plants

“The new project launched by the city government to plant date palms, otherwise known as, Phoenix dectylifera, on the roads of Karachi has yielded satisfactory results, far beyond what was expected,” said Liaqat Ali, director horticulture for the city government.

The date palms which are without leaves are not dead but are undergoing a translocation shock. On recovering they will begin absorbing nutrients from the soil triggering leaf formation. Emergence of new leaves takes only a few months.

The city government procured 2,000 date palm trees from Ranipur, Khairpur, Thatta, Gharo and Hub river area in several installments.

There is a five per cent mortality rate resulting from serious setbacks in the physiological process of the trees. These setbacks include transfer to a new plot of land. The trees might suffer from genetical defects or malnutrition, which are not visible when the soil is dug to uncover roots.

The roots play a vital role in keeping the tree healthy and stabilizing the mass of the tree. They are designed to withstand the persistent dry hot wind of the desert where they can survive for years without losing the tempo of growth. But it is impossible to assess the health of the tree by merely examining the roots.

There is no tree species other than the date palm that can survive severe conditions. In pure desert conditions only a few bushes and grasses acclimatize to the scalding temperature in daytime and almost freezing point in the night, and can still grow. Sometimes there is no rain for years to nourish them, therefore they must rely on the dew that settles at night and evaporates as the sun rises.

The dew is utilized by bushes and grasses with superficial root system which is not the case with dates as these have long penetrating roots which can grow to reach great depths. This is why they have a steel-like hardiness to face the odds of the desert. It is a miracle that inspite of these severe limitations they can grow luscious date fruits.

This knowledge is used in digging up full grown trees for transportation to the city. Trees growing under harsh rocky sites are chosen for digging up. The roots of such trees spread horizontally and on being translocated to the fertile soil of Karachi they will have an adequate water supply. Thus, they will flourish. On the other hand, date trees dug out from a farm will die as their roots would have grown vertically and for translocation their roots would have been cut.

Balochistan has 100 varieties of dates. These include Sadrami, Kikri, Peshna, Kala dizzaki, Sibil, Pupp, Asami, Shunsh, Zard-i-Rais, Begam jangi, Kuznibad, Shchri, Pono, Pash-pag, Kalut shepago and Dishtari. In Sindh the popularly grown varieties include Noor, Hallowee, Khunderawee, Zaidi sayer, Deree and Saidy.

A date tree produces 40 to 100 pounds of fruit. Dried dates have 70 per cent carbohydrate, two per cent protein, two and half per cent fat and a high content of vitamins A and B. It takes seven to eight days for the dates to dry. In the process they lose one-third of their weight.

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