ملاك الشرق 20-03-2010 11:29 AM Palm tree in oman   PALM TREE IN OMAN INTRODUCTION Date palm is considered the most important fruit crop in the Sultanate of Oman and occupying nearly 50% of the cultivated land in Oman. It is estimated that 35,000 hectares of land are planted with date palms and 28,000 hectares with other crops, including 11,000 hectares planted with rotation crops . These statistics reflect the importance of date palm tree to the Omani people who have lived with this tree for centuries. The date palm has retained its value for the dwellers of the desert because of its adaptive characteristics to the environment and the wide range of its benefits. It provides the family with many of the life necessities .The date itself is a high energy food item for both people and livestock. Any surplus dates are sold or traded for other items needed by the family. Branches and leaves of the palm were used to make baskets, ropes, boxes, and crates. The same traditional practices of date palm cultivation and maintenance that have been implemented since ancient times are still practiced by most date farms in Oman. In many areas of the Sultanate, date orchards are well-developed in terms of cultivar selection, planting, harvesting, marketing and storage. The palm tree provided building materials, thus most of the old houses were built in palm gardens are of palm trunks and mud, and the parts of the tree not having other uses were a major source of fuel for *****ng and heat in the winter. Many of the youth have left their farms to the cities in the sake of stable-income jobs as a result of oil discovery in the Sultanate. Therefore, most of the traditional cultural practices are still carried out by old men with only a slight variation or no change at all , since most of the modern techniques are not applicable by many farmers. The objective of this paper is to present a review of the traditional date palm cultural practices and the utilization of date palm tree as a major fruit crop in the Oman. This will include propagation, land preparation, planting, irrigation, fertilization, intercropping, pollination, pest management pruning, harvesting, consumption, utilization and marketing and storage. Date Palm of Oman: Oman is located in the southeast of Arabian Peninsula. It falls between longitudes 5314' and 5958' east and latitudes 1644' and 2622' north. The population of Oman is around 2.2 millions and the surface area 212,455 sq. km.. In the summer, the climate is hot and humid in the Batinah and other coastal cities while it moderate and dry in the interior regions of Oman. The average annual rainfall is ranging between 80-100 mm except the southern region where the monsoon. Wind cause intense precipitation reaching 400mm. Series of mountains in northern Oman reaches an altitude of 3000 m above sea level, a height that allow temperate fruit crops such as peaches, apricots, pomegranate and grapevines to be grown. In the level land, other crops beside date palm, which occupies the largest cultivated area, are grown such as mango and citrus crops. Coconut, papaya and bananas are the most important fruit crops in southern Oman. In spite of the variety of the fruit crops due to difference in the climate of Oman , nearly three quarters of the area given to tree crops is monopolized by date palm, Phoenix dactylifera, while, particularly, in the interior region of Oman this proportion rises to seven-eight's ), where date palm growing density is 250 tee/ha of the total area of 8.300 ha . Different literatures at different times have cited variable estimation of the number of palm trees and yield quantity. The total number of date palm trees currently is estimated to be around seven million with a wide range of varieties. Popenoe mentioned that Oman is credited with 4,000,000, the larger part of which was in the Batinah Cost. He reported that Samail ( part of the interior region now) reached the highest point in industry of date palm where half a million palms, two third of the variety Fardh which is until now the highest in quality of all date cultivars in Oman. He reported that the total annual exports of Oman were estimated at 30,000 tons. Wilkinson stated that the average yield of Batinah region palm was 75 lb. (34 Kg), but Samail estimate went up to 100 lb. ( 45Kg) per palm. He mentioned varieties in Buraimi like fardh, naghal, and khasab had 11 bunches per palm and yielded, on average, 40 Kg. Vittoz said that there are 3,500,000 palm trees in Oman of which 15% is located in the Interior and 30% in the Batinah region. FAO (1982) report indicated that the estimated annual production of Omani dates 50,000 tons and the number of date palm trees was 1 million for the period 1961 to 1978. Currently the date palm trees are estimated to be higher than before due to the introduction of new and easier production practices along with new cultivar which has increased the large scale farming of date palms. The number has raised to seven million tree. Nevertheless, most of the small scale farms are traditionally managed which seems more appropriate since there size is limited by the availability of irrigation water and/or tillable land ). Large numbers of small farms are irrigated by falaj which is a man-made underground tunnel through which water is tapped at the water table in the mountains and led to the plains where it is used for irrigation. Usually plots are quite small and hand tillage and harvesting method are more practical than the current mechanized methods. Moreover, there may not be enough room to maneuver the equipment without significant loss of farming area or damage to tree crops and irrigation channels PROPAGATION There are two common methods that are used to propagate palm trees, sexually by seed and asexually using offshoots. Elmardi mentioned that in the past, seeds were collected from good female cultivars and kept in cloth bags or perforated tin cans and left in the running water of a falaj. One week later, the imbibed seeds were sown in a nursery plot that is especially prepared for this purpose and the seedling then left there for one year. After that, the seedlings were transplanted to their permanent place in the farm. Since 50% of the seedlings will be undesirable males, farmers stopped using this method of propagation long time ago and adopted the vegetative one. Nevertheless, this method is still used in few areas to grow palms for pollen production in some areas in Batinah cost especially when offshoots are not available. Almost all the existing orchards are vegetatively propagated by offshoots. The small-sized offshoot is removed from the mother plant with a locally made machete and placed in moist place either in the falaj or under the farm trees to provide shade and allow roots to develop. Arab growers avoided large shoots and the ones that are crowded together and shaded by interplanted trees . Generally, no green leaves are removed from the offshoot until it is cut from the parent palm, as the growth of an offshoot will be proportional to its leaf area. Separation of the offshoots normally carried out in the late summer and fall. After the root develops, the young trees are transplanted to their permanent place. The new palms normally planted on a hole that is 80cm wide and 80 cm deep in a conic shape. Popenoe said that around 10 or 12 feet of earth are removed from the hole to eliminate alkali and put palm nearer to the ground water. The hole is normally prepared by adding organic manure and loose clean sand with ash before placing the tree in it. In the past, the good cultivars were scarce and expensive, so farmers tended to grow a mixture of different cultivars in the single farm. There are certain times of the year when offshoots are separated from the mother plant, thus moderate temperature is preferred for transplanting offshoots. Popenoe stated that in Samail Valley, where palms are irrigated on weekly basis throughout the year, offshoots are planted in the fall. Although offshoot could be planted in all months of the year, farmers tend to avoid planting in the summer when the temperature is very high or in the winter when temperature is very cold, and their practice is evenly divided between early spring and fall. After planting, the new trees are watered daily for the first week and then once week as the case of the whole farm. Young date. palms are planted close old trees in order to be replaced when the young tree start producing fruits. There is no specific spacing but normally it is around 30ft x 30ft interplanted with fruit trees such as citrus or field crops such as barley and alfalfa. IRRIGATION The Majority of the old date palm orchards in Oman are irrigated by falaj system. However, in Batinah region most of the orchards are irrigated from wells. Water is drawn from these wells by animal or hand hoists. The falaj system is driven by gravity, so when one plot is irrigated, the direction of the flowing water is changed to another plot in a zigzag pattern. The farm is divided into basins for individual trees and canals are normally constructed in the farms to facilitate water flowing to the trees. The farm is often irrigated once a week in the summer and every three weeks during the winter season. The falaj water is either inherited or bought from the village falaj committee that is responsible for water distribution. The old timing was based upon the sun where a long stick is inserted in the ground to determine periods of irrigation according to the sun movement. In the night time, star measurements were used for the same purpose FERTILIZATION Fertilization in the past was only based on green and animal manure. Popenoe reported that date growers in Oman applied animal manure and mixed it with straw at the rate of two donkey-loads per tree twice a year. Intercropping of alfalfa, which is common in most farms, contributed a big deal in providing nitrogen to the soil and, subsequently, to the trees. The fibrous root systems of the date palm allow them to uptake nutrients from a wide range of soil layers. Cow, chicken and human manure are also applied regularly to date farms. Ibn al-Awwam, have mentioned the fertilization of date palm trees as reported by . He says on the make and application of fertilizers especially compost" There is prodigious secret of marvelous virtue which is to take 14 Ibs. of the aromatic rush of Babylon, dig a hole in the ground, and bury it; after 21 days dig it up and spread it around the trees", in order to increase the yield. "It must be done in the sign of Taurus or of Cancer; I myself have tried it with notable success". He suggests" If your palms bear intermittently, dig a trench around them at two cubits, if it be the will of God, the palm will bear." Addition of organic matters and humus must be contributing to the growth and productivity of the soil since it provide nutrients as well as increase soil water holding capacity in the desert areas. The traditional practice of applying manure was by to bury animal manure in deep circular trenches around the trees. Straw or green manure is normally applied on the soil surface. CONCLOSION: Oman one of the famous Arab country growing palm tree and it is considered the most important fruit crop in it. Unfortunately palm tree start decline because a lot of people stop service it specially the young people and the dry season. I suggested that government should give more attention to grow palm tree and help people to grow them. Also the privet sector should issue factories to buy dates from the farmers and that will help to increase the palm tree in Oman. INDEX INTRODUCTION DATE PALM OF OMAN PROPAGATION IRRIGATION FERTILIZATION CONCLOSION

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