UAE is sixth largest exporter of dates

These facts, as well as the anti-desertification potential of date palm cultivation, were highlighted by Dr Abdelouahhab Zaid, editor and compiler of the FAO report, at Emirates Environmental Group's (EEG) 4th General Meeting for the year 2004, held on Tuesday at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, Dubai.

"As a plant indigenous to the desert, the cultivation of date palm requires less investment and effort than the adoption of plant species from less arid regions. At a more significant level, date palm cultivation has been proven to play a crucial role in anti-desertification strategies worldwide," said Habiba Al Marashi, Chairperson, EEG.

The EEG is a non-governmental organisation working in the field of environmental protection in the UAE and is accredited with the United Nations Convention for Combating Desertification.

Ms Al Marashi said: "One of the important aspects of the UAE's desertification control and land reclamation policies has been the plantation of thousands of hectares of palm trees, woodlands and green belts."

"The most obvious and important advantage of the desertification control policy that has encouraged date cultivation has been the transformation of the desert. The nomadic and unsettled lifestyle of people has changed into a settled one with the economic, health, social and educational patterns also changing accordingly."

"On the one hand, countless farms throughout the UAE depend upon the date palm to create shaded areas of ground where vegetables are grown. On the other hand, the strategy of growing forests in vast areas of land in the heart of the desert has provided habitat for man, flora and fauna," she observed.

The meeting sought to focus on strategies for increasing date palm cultivation, as well as highlighting the challenges faced by the date palm cultivators in face of climatic changes and increasingly competitive world markets.

Ms Al Marashi explained the choice of an agro-economic issue for EEG's general meeting by highlighting the fact that the financial benefits of an environmental measure will always have a crucial role to play in its success.

Professor Abdelouahhab Zaid, who is one of the international experts on date palm cultivation, highlighted the global scenarios in the date palm market. He also shed light on the potential benefit of date palm to UAE agriculture, focusing on the present situation of the UAE date palm culture, the constraints of the date industry and date palm varieties in the UAE.

Professor Zaid is the Chief Technical Adviser and Director of the Date Palm Research and Development Programme in the UAE, a project co-implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the UAE University.