It is a medium sized tree, 15-20m tall often clumped with several trunks from a single root system, but also growing singly. Iraq has always led the world in date production. Presently, 22 million date palms in that country produce nearly 600,000 tons of date annually. The Basra area is renowned for its cultivars of outstanding quality.
In 1980, production in Saudi Arabia was brought to nearly half million tons from 11 million palms, because of the government subsidies, improved technology, and a royal decree that dates be included in meals in the government and civic institutions and that hygienically, packed dates be regularly available in the market. Farmers receive financial rewards for each off-shoot of a high quality date planted at a prescribed spacing.
Bonavia introduced seeds of 26 kinds of dates from the Near East into Northern India and Pakistan in 1969,’ and in 1909. D.Miline, the economic botanist for Punjab, introduced off-shoots and established date as a cultivated crop in Pakistan.
The fruit is known as a date. Three main types of date exist, soft, semidry and dry. The type of fruit depends on the glucose, fructose, and sucrose contents.
Dates are naturally wind pollinated, but in modern commercial horticulture these are pollinated manually. Natural pollination requires about an equal number of male and female plants. However, with the assistance, one male can pollinize up to 50 females. Since males are of value as pollenizers. This allows the growers to use their resource for many more fruit producing female plants.
Pollination is done by skill labourers on ladders, or less often pollen may be blown on to the female flowers by wind machine. Date farmers in Iraq lost their 2003 crop, because the nation was at war during pollination time.
Parthenocarpic cultivars are available but the seedless fruit is smaller and of lower quality. About l00 gram portion of fresh dates is a premium source of vitamin C and supplies 230 Kcal of energy, and dried 100 grams of dates provide three grams of dietary fibre and supplies 270 Kcal of energy.
Insect-pest of date-palm: Over the last decade, productivity has declined in traditional growing areas. As much as 30 per cent of production may potentially be lost as a result of disease and pests. In the Middle East, the Red Palm Weevil has recently become one of the major date palm pests, while “bayoud” disease, which is caused by a parasitic fungus, is a common threat to date palms in North Africa.
Pests and diseases spread increasingly with the expansion of trade and travel in the globalizing world system.
Date-Palm is known to be attacked by as many as 60 dangerous or potentially dangerous insects’ pests actually of the 60 dangerous or potentially dangerous; the seven most common date palm insects cause no serious harm under normal growth conditions. Scale cause damage, when weather favours the growth of scale insect population, and palm fronds become covered with these sucking pests the scale insect inject their poisonous saliva into the green tissues and thus stop photosynthesis. As a result palm trees losses much of its vigour.
In Pakistan, the red weevil, or Indian palm weevil, Rhinoceros ferruginous, bores into the leaf bases at the top of trunk, causing the entire crown to wither or die.
The rhinoceros beetle, or black palm beetle, oryctes, rhinoceros, occasionally attacks the date. Its feeding damage may provide entrance-ways for the weevil.
Besides borers, the caterpillars of two species of moths feed on flower or date fruits. One known as greater date moth, Arenipses Sabella, lays its eggs on the un-opened spathes and other tender parts of palm, when spathes open, the caterpillar leave them in the direction of the fruit stalks. They sever the stalks from the strand, but connect them again with silken thread the fruits turn grayish-brown and shrivel.
Moths of this species appear from February to April, but the second generation in April-May is more serious. Another date-moth, known as lesser date moth Batrachedra amydraula, has appeared this year (2005) in Khairpur district on date-palm after the lapse of seven years. The same insect appeared in Khairpur district on date-palm orchards during 1998.
Lesser date moth caterpillar attacks the immature fruit on the bunch. According to Wiltshire, larvae may attack and damage large number of fruits from April to June or July.
The larvae enter the fruit by making small hole near calyx, feed on pulp and immature see inside the fruit. Ramchandra found that 30 per cent of fallen fruit was attacked by this pest.
This pest is reportedly causing serious damage to date palms in Libya, Southern and central plain of Iraq and in Iran.
On the directives of the Director General Agriculture Research Sindh, Tandojam, a team of research experts along with the Agriculture Extension officers surveyed date palm orchards in Deh Ghujo, Taluka Khairpur, Deh Visirio Wahan near Tharhi, Mori Deh Piryalo Taluka Kingri, wada Machi and visited the farms.
According to the research team growers locally call this problem as “Bar” where immature fruits are damaged by lesser date moth with the result that the green immature fruits dry-up. Research team reported that the intensity of problem was alarming where no appropriate measures were taken. Generally, measures taken by the growers were not satisfactory. Team disclosed that the farm of Atta Muhammed Khoso was free from insect problem, because he had adopted preventive control measures during first week of April with Phyrethriod insecticides.
The team collected immature (green) and dried fruits and dissected the collected fruits samples. Team reported 40 per cent infestation on fallen fruits 30 per cent on picked fruits and found 10 per cent alive larvae from picked fruits and 20 per cent alive larvae from the fallen. Variety ASIL was found to be more susceptible than Toto, Kerbali and Panjamail. Young trees were severely damaged than the tall trees. Overall infestation position was alarming.
Chemical control of lesser date moth: Expert team recommended the following methods for control of this pest.
To get satisfactory control of this pest two sprays are required. Proper time of spray in the first week of April i.e., first spray one week after pollination and 2nd after 30 days of first spray. In affected areas use any of the following insecticides.
Delta Phos 1.5ml/1 litre of water
Karate 1ml/1 litre of water Cypermethrin 2ml/1 litre of water
Danitol 1ml/1 litre of water
Cultural Control: •Dropped fruit may be collected and buried. •Ploughing should be done to kill the immature stages of this insect. •In case of infestation heavy irrigation should be done. •Balance use of fertilizer may be practiced. •Mix cropping with high delta crops may be avoided.