How To Grow Dates Tree In India

Botanical Name: Phoenix dactylifera

Family: Palmae

Place of origin - Gulf countries (Iraq)

Dates are a nutritious fruit rich in sugar and iron, primarily found in desert oases. The fruit is sweet, cooling, and energizing. Dates contain ample amounts of protein, fat, minerals, and carbohydrates. They are consumed both fresh and dried. Their origin is believed to be in the countries surrounding the Persian Gulf, such as Iraq (Mesopotamia) and Egypt. The pulp contains 60-65 percent sugar, 2 percent protein, 2.5 percent fiber, 0.4 percent fat, and 2 percent minerals. It is a good source of easily digestible iron (7.3 mg/100 g) and is therefore given to anemic patients, often with honey.

Dates can be consumed in various forms: raw (fresh dates), dried dates, and soft dates. These fruits are known for their high nutritional and caloric value (1440 calories/kg of fresh fruit). They are also a good source of minerals (15 types), vitamins (7 types), and antioxidants, and possess several medicinal properties. The fruits can be used to make a variety of products such as juice, wine, chutney, jam, pickles, and bakery items.

• Dates are a rich source of minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants.

• Cultivation of dates should be done in areas having hot summers, less rain, and low humidity at ripening time.

• Grow Hillawi and Barhee varieties for raw eating and Chuhara making at the doka stage.

How To Plant And Grow Dates

Climate and Soil Requirements:

Date palm cultivation can be successfully carried out in areas with long, hot summers, where the temperature during flowering (February to April) and fruit ripening (May to August) should be between 25 and 29°C. For good quality fruit production, the date palm requires hot and dry summers and is well-suited to areas with hot summers, low rainfall, and low humidity. Like grapes, this crop also requires specific heat units (approximately 3000 units above a base of 10°C) for fruit ripening. Rain or high humidity should be avoided during fruit ripening and harvesting; otherwise, the fruit will spoil. This crop is sensitive to frost.

Deep sandy loam soil is best, although, being a very hardy and robust fruit, it can be grown in a wide range of soil conditions. Good drainage with adequate water retention capacity is essential. It can grow in alkaline and saline soils; however, growth and productivity are affected. It can tolerate pH levels up to 10 and higher levels of alkalinity or salinity compared to other fruit crops. It can also tolerate drought and flood conditions.

Recommended Cultivars

Depending on the season of ripening, the cultivars are classified as early, mid, and late cultivars.

Hillawi (2016): The trees are tall and vigorous in growth. The fruit is oblong-elliptical with an obtuse apex, light orange with a yellowish skin at the doka stage. The orange fruit weight is 15.2g, TSS 29.6%, and pulp stone ratio 9.7:1. It is early in ripening as the fruit reaches the full doka stage in mid July. This variety is low in astringency and best suited for raw eating and chhuhara making at the doka stage. Its average yield is 90-95 kg/tree at the doka stage.

Barhee (2016): Trees are semi-vigorous and medium in height. The fruits are oval in shape and yellow in colour at the doka stage. The average fruit weight is 12.2 g, TSS is 25.4%, and its pulp-to-stone ratio is 9.1:1. It is late in ripening as the fruit reaches the full doka stage in mid-August. This variety is low in astringency and best for raw eating at the doka stage. Its average yield is 65-70 kg/tree at the doka stage.

Khadrawi: Its fruits are small to medium in size. In the doka stage, the fruits are light yellow in color. Its fruits are used for making dried dates. The fruits contain 30 percent total soluble solids. The average yield per tree is 60-80 kg.

Medjool: This is a late-ripening date variety. The fruits are large, broad, and oval-shaped, and their size makes them suitable for making dried dates. In the doka (partially ripe) stage, the fruits are orange-yellow with reddish-brown spots. The total soluble solids content is 29 percent. Each tree yields 75 to 100 kg of fruit.

Shamran: The fruits are pink in color and have a soluble solids content of 41 percent. This variety is suitable for making dried dates. 9.1: 1.

Zahid: Mid- Season cultivar with small to medium-sized fruits; it is tolerant to rain and humidity.

How To Germinate Date Seeds Faster

Propagation:

Although date palms can be propagated by seed, the quality of seedlings is inferior to that of plants propagated vegetatively. Vegetative propagation in date palms is done using suckers (off-shoot). Suckers (off-shoot) emerge from the base of the trunk of 4-5-year-old date palm trees. On average, only 2-3 suckers are obtained from a single plant per year. Thus, 18-20 suckers (off-shoot) weighing 8-15 kilograms each can be obtained from a single plant between the ages of 4 and 10 years. The date palm is a dioecious tree (having separate male and female plants). If the suckers (off-shoot) are taken from a female plant, the resulting plants will also be female. When separating the suckers from the main tree, care should be taken to ensure that they weigh at least 6 kilograms.

• Datepalm can be propagated using suckers or tissue culture. Tissue culture plants are true to type and better than suckers.

• Datepalm is a dioecious plant, and hand pollination is a must for higher fruit setting.

• Use one male plant for ten female plants to ensure good pollination

Planting:

In the summer (June), dig pits of 1x1x1 meter size at a distance of 8x8 meters. Mix approximately 25 kg of well-rotted cow dung manure, 200 grams of superphosphate, 50 grams of muriate of potash, and 50 grams of quinalphos per pit. Plant the saplings in July-August. At the time of planting, keep the suckers 15 cm above the ground, and ensure that irrigation water does not touch the stem.

In a date palm orchard, the ratio of male to female plants should be 1:10. If the proportion of male plants is higher, they should be removed.

How Long Does It Take To Grow A Date Palm Tree

Manure and Fertilizers:

For date palm trees that are bearing fruit, apply 30 to 40 kilograms of well-rotted cow dung manure in September. In addition, apply 600 grams of nitrogen, 100 grams of phosphorus, and 700 grams of potash per tree annually in March or April.

Irrigation

Newly planted suckers should be irrigated daily for 10-15 days. Once the plants are well-established, irrigate 3-4 times a month during the summer and twice a month during the winter. Maintain adequate soil moisture during fruit formation and growth periods.

Weeding and hoeing

To ensure good fruit production from fruit trees, weeds should be regularly removed from the orchard. Depending on water availability, crops such as peas, chickpeas, mung beans, cowpeas, chilies, and eggplants can be grown between the trees in the initial years.

Pollination

During flowering, 2-3 male flower clusters are inserted among the female flower clusters. The remaining pollination is carried out by insects. Sometimes, this process can be successfully completed by cutting the male inflorescences and tying them upside down onto the female inflorescences with twine. For artificial pollination, freshly opened female inflorescences should be pollinated two or three times with cotton swabs dipped in pollen. In date palms, a specially designed pistol is used to shoot pollen onto the female flowers for artificial pollination.

Fruitset :

Fruit thinning has to be resorted to retain 1300 – 1600 fruits in 8-10 bunches per palm, which will be optimum. Bunch thinning can be done either by the removal of the entire strand or the shortening of strands. Spraying ethephon @ 200 ppm 10 – 30 days after fruitset will help to thin fruits effectively. It also helps to overcome biennial bearing and encourages earlier ripening, and to get better fruit weight and soluble sugar.

The different stages of development of fruit are as follows :

Name	Arabic name	Stage	Fruit quality
Gandara	Chimiri	4-13 Weeks after pollination	Hard, Green Colour
Doka	Khalal	13-17 weeks after pollination	Hard, yellow, pink, or red may be sweet or astringent. Edible stage.
Dang	Rutab	17-21 weeks after pollination	Fruits soften at the tip, in the edible stage.
Pind	Tamer	21-22 weeks after pollination	Fully ripe 60-84% TSS, edible stage.

Training and Pruning:

Date palm is a monocotyledonous single-stem plant and generally does not branch. Therefore, diseased, dried, and damaged leaves must be removed during the winter. Very old leaves must be removed as these are less efficient in photosynthesis. Besides removal of leaves, dethorning close to fruit bunches is also essential, which helps in pollination, thinning of bunches, spraying,g and harvesting of fruits. After fruit set, twisting of the bunch is done during AprilMay to withstand bunch breakage from high wind velocity. 70 -100 leaves per palm are required for optimum productivity.

Fruit Maturity and Harvesting:

Date palm bears fruit after five years. The dates are harvested at different stages of maturity depending upon the varieties, demand of consumers, and climatic conditions. For fresh and dry dates, the bunches are harvested at the full doka stage, and for soft dates bunches are harvested at the partial dang stage.

Yield and Processing :

The fruit ripening period is not free of rain, the fruits have to be harvested at the doka stage during June – August. The fruits harvested at the oka stage have to be dipped in boiling water for 5 minutes, followed by dehydration in an electric oven at 500 °C for 160 hours or in a solar drier to obtain the best quality ‘Chhuhara’, which is the commercial date or produce of commerce. The Chhuhara recovery would be 33 – 35%.

Plant protection :

1. Pests: The following pests damage date palm plants:

Palm Weevil: These insects bore holes in the trunk with their proboscis. Affected leaves turn yellow and fall off. To control this, cut and destroy the affected branches and spray with endosulfan 1.5 ml per liter or quinalphos 2 ml per liter of water.

Scale Insects: Both the nymphs and adults of this insect suck the sap from the leaves. Their attack is particularly severe in November. To control this, spray with methyl demeton 25 EC or dimethoate 30 EC at a rate of 1 ml per liter of water.

Termites: Termites cause considerable damage to date palm trees. For control, chlorpyrifos should be applied at a rate of 4 liters per hectare with irrigation water every month.