The production and consumption of dates are highest in Arabia. It is considered a sacred fruit in the Qur’an, it is used throughout the world during Ramadan. It contains many nutrients like sugar, calcium, nicotinic acid, potassium and iron. Dates are a member of the palm family, and they grow only in tropical climatic conditions. Although it is also the most important crop of the desert region, it can also be grown under general agriculture and now its industrial production has started in India as well.
Description of Dates
Date palm production is an important part of the world agricultural industry, most of it is produced in the hot areas of South Asia and North Africa, from there it is sold in various countries around the world. In India, it is mainly produced in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu and Kerala in South India.
Type of Dates
Although there are many types of dates found all over the world, but in India, there are more than 1000 types of dates, including barhee, medjool, shamran, khadarve (khadarway), halvi (Halawy), Zahidi, Khalas, Wild Date Palm. 7 types of dates are grown in Israel, whose names are Badhi, Deglet Noor, Halawi, Khadrawy, Thury and Zahidi Dates.
Growing process
Date palms can be cultivated from stems (suckers) emerging from the base of a tree, from seeds or tissue cultures. For this, farmers do not have to depend only on seeds, anyway, the possibility of producing poor quality fruits from seeds increases.
Only after the age of the mother palm tree is 4 to 5 years, it should be separated from the trunk (suckers) of the base of the tree. In this process, in the 4th and 10th years of the life of the tree, up to 9 to 15 kg of stems (suckers) can be obtained from the base of the tree 9 to 20 times, due to this it is very time-consuming and laborious. are the way. Tissue culture technology is the most suitable technique for date palm production, but its industrial use is not so economical and in vogue right now.
How long does it take to make Dates?
Most date palms are grown from offshoots of their parent tree, called pups, it takes about 6 to 8 years for the pups to become transplantable and 6 to 7 years after that to bear fruit. Huh.
Required Climate
For better production of dates, there should be low humidity and adequate light, for this there should be long days with very sunny and the night temperature should also below. It does not require any rainfall, especially during the fruit and flowering season.
The temperature of 120 degrees and 3 inches of rain per year is sufficient for date palm production, that is why they can be grown even in the desert.
A special type of border is dug near the date tree, this border collects that water so that the roots of the date get enough water, the roots of each tree require about 60,000 gallons of water per year. These borders conserve water and prevent weeds from growing.
Around August, bunches of dates are cut, taking special care of the thickness of the main stock.
Which type of soil is required?
Date palm production requires well-draining deep loam soil, which should have a pH of 8 to pH 10, the soil should be able to absorb moisture. Dates can also be grown in saline (saline) and alkaline soils. The soil should be calcium carbonate free and should not have any hardness up to 2.5 meters for the roots to develop.
Harvesting
Dates can be harvested only after 6 to 7 years of date planting. It’s harvesting mainly depends on its variety, in India the fruit of the date palm is extracted in the “Doka” stage.
In this way, the different methods adopted to harvest the main types of dates are mainly as follows-
Barhee
This variety of date palms is harvested at the exposed yellow layer (known as Khal). These fruits are available at branches in the market and these branches are exported in cardboard boxes. For this kind of marketing and consumption, it is necessary to cut it as a disturbance, otherwise, it gets spoiled.
Along with this, it is also necessary to have sweet fruits in it, so it is very important to take care of the time of harvesting so that it can reach the customers without open (in unripe condition). The bunches are harvested with a special knife, about 20 kg heavy bunches are placed directly on the ground or hung in a special hanger and transferred directly to the packing house. The harvesting process is done in 3 to 5 rounds and only bunches which are found in suitable stages are harvested.
Deglet Nour
Deglet Knorr is used in 2 ways, one with branched fruit and the other as branch detached fruit, so special care is taken at the time of harvesting to ensure that the fruit retains its original position.
harvesting fruit from branches
The fruit is harvested in tons in Algeria, Tunisia and Israel, from where it is exported to France, Spain and Italy. The bunches are harvested when most of the fruit is ripe, before it spoils, they are cut and separated with some disturbances.
The bunches are carefully placed in a container or some other device and transported to the packaging house, most often the bunches are placed in a net to protect them from pests or birds, or It is also protected from rain by keeping it in wax paper or nylon sleeve. To prevent the fruit from falling from the bunches, it is important that they be kept safe and not shaken.
Harvesting is done 3 to 5 times with an interval of 5 to 7 days, till all the bunches are cut from the palm.
The bunches which have less fruit but are marketable are removed from the bunch differently and taken to the market differently.
Harvesting loose fruits to be sold unattached
Harvesting is done according to the condition of the tree, for this, the fruit must be in a ripe state. The hydration treatment is given to this fruit, so it can be kept on the palm till all the fruits of this stage are ripe and dry. When harvesting is done, it is necessary to protect the fruit from the rain because due to rain, fermentation or decomposition occurs in the fruit, or insects can also be introduced.
Medjool
Many farmers use ladders to reach the dates during harvesting, while some also reach the dates with the help of U-shaped baskets on forklifts because this technique allows branches of trees up to 40 feet high. Dates can be plucked from. For this, the breaker climbs up with a tray in his hand and when the tray is full, is sent back down and is put in a large tray and sent to the processing area. Most of these dates are only ripe brown but some are yellow too, these yellow dates are dried in the sun to ripen.
Packing
Barhee
Adequate temperature is required for the packing of Bhi, as well as it is necessary that packing is done in the shortest possible time to keep it in a disturbed state and also to retain its moisture. In Jordan, Israel, the USA and Saudi Arabia, the fruit is packed with branches in 5 kg cardboard boxes. Green or ripe dates are removed from the branches and only smooth, clean, yellow dates are packed.
Packing Deglet Nour on branches
Earlier only Europe was expert in packing it, but later it started packing in all the countries where it is produced. For this, telescopic cardboard boxes are used, which have a bottom and lead, it weighs about 5 kg, the package is decorated with pictures of date trees or Deglet Nour. The fruits are hung from the hanging frame in the shade itself. Branches suitable for marketing are cut and arranged in a line and deposited in the card box. The size of the box is usually 50 × 30 cm, and this box is made in such a way that standard pallets of 120 × 100 cm can be stored in it. A transparent cell phone sheet is placed over these fruits and the lead is closed by pressing so that the moisture remains.
Its fruit should be soft, juicy and light-coloured and transparent. A good Deglet Knorr seed can be seen in the light, the fruit should be attached to the branch and clean, its moisture should not exceed 26%, each branch should be 10 cm long and this length should bear 5 dates should be. There should not be more than 1% green fruits and underripe fruits (disruption stage) on the branch. Unworked, dried, and open fruits are removed from the branches. If live insects are seen, they are also removed, the fruit is smoked with methyl bromide before packing. Make sure that the fruit is not dusted. Special care is taken. Care is taken that there should not be more than 3% separated fruits in a box. Although there is no standard size the weight of each fruit should be at least 8.50 grams.
Deglet Nour on branches offers two alternative packages
- Flakes: Fruits are packed in 2 bunches in a long card box, its total weight is 10 kg, its quality is similar to the fruit packed in a 5 kg box.
- Bouquets: 3 to 5 bunches are packed in a cellphone bag of cardboard tray, the branches are tied to their base. The weight of this pack is 200 to 400 grams, and it requires a lot of labour.
Quality considerations in packing Deglet Nour
To maintain the soft and juicy texture of this fruit, it is very important to take care that it does not get dusty, apart from this, the weight should also be right, during packing, storage and shipping conditions should also be kept favourable, otherwise, These fruits can go bad soon.
Medjool
The trays of dates after harvesting are emptied on the shaker table. This table is covered with a terrycloth cloth, as the dates slowly come out of this table, they get cleaned with this wet towel. These towels are changed 2 to 3 times a day. The dates are then rolled on a conveyor belt where they are separated based on size and quality, and then packed.
In this way, the methods of packing different varieties of dates are also different.
Storage and Refrigeration
Medjool dates are kept safe in cold storage till they are sold. 0-4 to Deglet NaurOIt is necessary to keep at a temperature of C, due to freezing the fruit becomes dark in colour.