Project Name
تطوير نظم انتاج مستدامة لنخيل التمر في دول الخليج العربي Development of Sustainable Systems for Date Palm in the Countries of the GCC 2018-2022;

إجراء البحوث والتطوير لخلق المعرفة والممارسات الجديدة لتحسين أنظمة إنتاج النخيل في منطقة الخليج من خلال السماح بتحسين إنتاجية الأصناف ، وإدارة الموارد الطبيعية (الأرض والمياه) لتحقيق الأداء الأمثل ، والاستفادة المثلى من استخدام المدخلات المختلفة في عملية الزراعة (الأسمدة ، الملقحات ، مياه الصرف الصحي ، إلخ) ، ودراسة التنوع الجيني لنخيل التمر

Conduct research and development to produce new knowledge and practices to improve date palm production systems in the Gulf region by allowing improvement of productivity of cultivars, management of natural resources (land and water) for optimal performance, optimization of use of different inputs in the cropping process (fertilizers, pollinators, wastewater, etc.), and studying the genetic diversity of date palms.

UPDATES

Major project milestones in 2020 included applying drone technology to monitor pests, applying new liquid pollination techniques, and post-harvesting monitoring and control. Liquid pollination resulted in cost reductions against conventional pollination methods of 80%, savings of 70% in pollen grains, and a profitability ratio of 1:9 when compared to conventional methods.

In 2021, the project focused on improving agricultural production systems and conserving natural resources affected by climate change through the development and demonstration of climate-smart technological packages. ICARDA held participatory demonstrations of water- and energy-saving practices for smallholder farmers across six target countries. These practices included the use of solar energy, net houses, hydroponic irrigation and root zone cooling.

In 2022, major milestones included working on screening indigenous flora of the Arabian Peninsula region to replace tropical fodder species used for forage production in the water-scarce desert areas. Collecting and identifying different forage species with heat tolerance and high-water productivity continued in the Lahej area in Yemen. In Oman, evaluating harvesting periods for panicum grass continued to assess the performance of two varieties under sprinkler irrigation using treated wastewater. 2022 also saw the progression of rangeland rehabilitation in Yemin and Kuwait; protected agriculture in Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia and UAE; date palm production in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE; and capacity development in Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Oman and Saudi Arabia.