Developing Egypt's date industry - Features - Al-Ahram Weekly

Al-Ahram Weekly

10-05-2025

Throughout this year's Ramadan season, ordinarily the peak for date sales in Egypt, a state of stagnation was apparent in the market, according to Mohamed Ibrahim, a wholesale date trader.
The increase in date production this year, which exceeded the needs of the domestic market, has led to a 40 per cent drop in prices compared to the previous year. Many buyers have also shown a preference for imported varieties, as these may be produced and packaged to higher quality standards, causing a decline in demand for many of the lower-quality types grown locally.
After the Ramadan season, preparations commence for the next production cycle. According to Ibrahim, September marks the harvest of fresh dates, alongside the production of various sun-dried and frozen varieties, completing their maturation from raw fruit to fully ripened dates before being stored.
By the time Ramadan approaches, the dates have been meticulously prepared and sold to exporters and companies that incorporate them into food products. The largest share, however, is allocated to local consumption, passing through major traders who distribute them to wholesalers before they ultimately reach retailers and consumers.
'This year, date prices have fallen compared to the previous year, despite rising fuel costs which have driven up transportation expenses,' Ibrahim said.
'As certain varieties require refrigeration from harvest time until they are sold, storage costs have also increased. But the price decline stems from the continued expansion of date cultivation and large-scale production, resulting in a surplus that exceeds local demand and leading to a slowdown in sales.'
'Many wholesalers who invested in Aswan dates last year, bearing the costs of transportation and storage in anticipation of higher returns, have incurred substantial financial losses, as prices have declined sharply due to abundant supply.'
According to Mahmoud Khedr, a professor of agriculture at the National Research Centre (NRC) in Cairo, Egypt ranks first globally in date production, yielding approximately 1.9 million tons annually, with nearly 17 million palm trees. Egypt's date production surpasses that of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Algeria, Iraq, and the UAE, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
'There are three main types of dates, including soft varieties characterised by high moisture content, semi-dry varieties with a moderate moisture level, and dry varieties distinguished by their low moisture content. Egypt benefits from a diverse climate that is highly conducive to palm cultivation and the production of all types of dates,' Khedr said.
'In the governorates of Luxor and Aswan, dry date varieties such as Bartamoda and Sakkoty are grown, for example. In Siwa, the Bahariya Oasis, and the New Valley, semi-dry varieties such as Siwy and others are cultivated. Soft varieties such as Bent-Eisha, Samany, and Hayany are grown in governorates like Alexandria, Damietta, and Giza.'
'The distribution is approximately 52 per cent soft dates, 20 per cent semi-dry dates, and three per cent dry dates, and nearly 25 per cent seedling varieties that do not belong to any of the main categories,' he said.
'Although Egypt ranks first in terms of date production, its exports remain minimal. Last year, date exports did not exceed 50,000 tons, for example, attributed to one of the key criticisms of palm cultivation in Egypt, which is the decline in quality. This in turn is linked to several factors, most notably the failure to implement good agricultural practices and the widespread presence of low-quality seedling date varieties.'
Khedr stressed the need to apply better agricultural practices in order to open export markets for Egyptian dates.
'It is essential to implement a comprehensive set of practices to improve productivity, preserve existing palm trees, and consequently enhance production, quality, and yield. The first of these practices is proper pruning, as many palm plantations, particularly those in the Bahariya Oasis, do not carry this out. Neglecting it increases the risk of infestation by the red palm weevil and, over time, shortens the expected lifespan of the trees.'
Following the pruning process, Khedr recommends preventive measures against weevil infestation, such as spraying insecticides or dusting with agricultural sulphur, especially since the weevils often appear after pruning. Next comes the removal of weeds, a step that many farms overlook, though it is an important one as weeds compete with palm trees and other crops for water and nutrients in the soil.
Additionally, they act as hosts and attractants for insects, and some insects secrete substances that hinder root growth, which negatively affects crop productivity.
BEST PRACTICES: Obtaining dates of high quality in sufficient amounts requires significant effort and a series of precise steps that must be executed by farmers at specific times, Khedr explained.
For example, if a farmer does not climb the male palm tree to collect pollen and then the female tree to pollinate the flowers, the female palm will produce a type of yellow date with low economic value that can only be sold at low prices.
Growing dates, regardless of their variety, requires human intervention, as the date palm is a dioecious plant, meaning it is either male or female. Additionally, palms are not attractive to insects, which usually play the role of transferring pollen for plant reproduction.
'One of the common mistakes that hinders the quality and productivity of date palms is when large farms with around 3,000 palms employ only a few workers to complete the pollination process. Reducing the number of workers leads to longer pollen transfer times. Since female flowers can only receive pollen for a maximum of six days, after this period the pollen becomes ineffective. As a result, no fruit is formed, leading to a reduced yield,' Khedr said.
'It is essential properly to select pollen from male palms to achieve excellent fruit after ensuring their colour, length, diameter, and sugar content meet the required standards to produce dates of the same quality. In Egypt, high-quality male date palm varieties have started to spread and play a role in increasing production and improving quality.'
'Besides fruit quality, the seedling varieties also pose one of the biggest challenges to date exports, as they account for 26 per cent of Egypt's date production. Seedling varieties are less desirable for export and are of lower quality compared to main varieties. Investors have begun to avoid planting these seedlings, replacing them with high-quality varieties that are in demand on the market at higher prices. Awareness campaigns organised by the NRC are educating farmers about varieties with high marketing and economic value,' Khedr said.
'It is customary to plant palm trees using palm offsets, with each palm producing between 10 and 15 offsets throughout its life and growing directly under the tree. Planting them offers several advantages. For example, the farmer can identify the type of palm that will grow, something that cannot be known when planting seeds, which may result in an undesired variety. Moreover, a palm grown from a seed will take many years to bear fruit and to determine whether the tree is male or female. It is crucial to know the palm's sex, as a male palm can pollinate up to 25 female palms. Therefore, on a farm with 100 palms, only four male palms will be needed.'
'As a result, planting offsets remains the preferred option, as the farmer knows the palm's sex and the type of its fruit before planting and can begin harvesting fruit within just three years,' he added.
Khedr said that there are other best practices sometimes neglected by farmers. 'One of the essential best practices for date palms, often neglected by farmers, is the adjustment and strengthening of the date bunch stalks to prevent them from breaking and causing premature fruit to drop before ripening,' he said.
As the fruit grows and its size increases, the weight also increases, making it necessary to tie the stalk to the palm fronds to prevent it from breaking and causing the dates to fall, which reduces the crop yield. There is also the process of removing the fruit, where the farmer removes some of the lower-quality fruit to allow the better dates to receive more nutrients and fertilisers. While the total number of dates decreases, the quality and size of the remaining fruit improves. Larger and higher-quality dates can be sold at higher prices.'
'There are also some common misconceptions among farmers that can harm the palm trees. For example, some believe that irrigating the plants surrounding the palm will be sufficient, but this is a mistake. A palm requires additional amounts of water, approximately three per cent of its annual water needs in winter and up to 14 per cent in summer. Similarly, some farmers think that fertilising the plants around the palm tree benefits it, but a date palm requires a significant amount of nutrients. These include nitrogen, potassium, magnesium, and other essential elements, which can easily be depleted as a palm can produce an average of 60 kg of dates a year,' Khedr said.
'Once the fruit has been fertilised and its growth properly ensured, the process of bagging the date bunches must begin. This involves the farmer climbing the palm tree and covering the bunches of dates with bags to protect them from dust and rain and preventing the fruit from becoming mouldy. This practice also helps to ensure high-quality dates.'
According to Khedr, these best practices are being applied at the world's largest date palm farm in the Toshka area of Egypt. The farm was established on the orders of President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi on an area of about 40,000 feddans. It grows all the Egyptian varieties, as well as varieties grown in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, including Al-Segai, Kholas, and Agwa Al-Madina, all of which have also recently been introduced to Egypt.
'The farm is in the Guinness Book of World Records and is expected to include around 2.5 million palms. Currently, 1.8 million palms have been planted, and approximately 700,000 more are being planted. The farm includes varieties that are in demand in Europe, East Asia, and some of the Gulf countries. Efforts are underway to export at least 40 per cent of the farm's production,' Khedr said.
Markets: According to Mustafa Assous, head of the Date Palm Processing Department at the Central Date Palm Lab at the Agricultural Research Centre, in addition to exports, creating a larger market for dates and using Egypt's abundant production is eminently possible, especially after the implementation of best agricultural practices.
With the government's enhanced focus on the agricultural and food industries, Egypt can successfully localise its date industry.
'More than half of Egypt's date production consists of soft varieties, which spoil quickly and require refrigeration. Incorporating them into the food industry will preserve them from spoilage and add value. There are many date-based products in demand, such as date syrup, date paste (which we currently import), date juice, and other products,' Assous said.
'There are also many semi-dry varieties, such as Upper Egyptian dates, which we export in large quantities and can be incorporated into food products and exported at a higher value. As for dry varieties, these can be processed into date powder or date sugar, which is added to baked goods and other food products.'
'We have more than 15 million date palms in Egypt, and date palm cultivation is growing in Africa and Asia, especially in countries like Thailand, India, China, and Namibia. But Egyptian farmers continue to plant more palms. Focusing on improving date quality through good agricultural practices and replacing undesirable palm varieties is more important than expanding palm cultivation without planning,' he said.
'Even with good agricultural practices in place and higher export rates, some varieties, like dry dates, are still not accepted in markets such as the European ones. Therefore, the benefit lies in incorporating dates into food products.'
'The other issue that must be considered is that many dates can spoil or become infested with weevils due to poor storage. Dates should be frozen and stored at low temperatures, depending on their moisture content. Additionally, date varieties should be sorted before packaging and well-wrapped to protect them from dust and insect infestation, similar to the many date brands that are imported and sold in the Egyptian market, which enjoy high demand despite their high prices.'
'After the establishment of the country's largest date farm in Toshka, this should be followed by refrigerated storage facilities and a factory complex that can incorporate dates into higher-value food products. This will reduce the need to import such processed food products using hard currency and will also generate more foreign currency when exporting processed dates rather than raw agricultural products,' Assous concluded.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 8 May, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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