Eritrea: Date Palm Plantations Progressing to Semi-Commercial Stage
Source: Ministry of Agriculture Newsletter
NATION BUILDING
https://shabait.com/2022/01/12/eritrea- ... ial-stage/
Jan 12, 2022
The Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) is promoting date palm plantations in different parts of the country, since 2003. To date, it has distributed more than 20,000 seedlings.
Began in 2016, the date palm production project has involved the production of seedlings through tissue culture and suckers. It has also included different training programs and workshops, along with awareness raising campaigns for farmers and other institutions throughout the country. Invariably, it has been received with great enthusiasm and encouraged more farmers to take up date palm farming.
According to Mr. Mussie Fekadu, Head of the Biotechnology Unit at the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) and the National project coordinator of date palm production, the project hopes to reach a satisfactory level of production within five years. In order to achieve this goal, the MoA, in cooperation with various development partners, has organized regular theoretical and practical capacity-building programs. As a result, researchers at NARI have been able to multiply the date palm through embryogenesis.
Mr. Mussie Fekadu
Mr. Mussie added that the capacity-building programs were pioneered by Dr. Abdallah Ben Abdallah, who serves as a consultant with the FAO and is a highly-regarded date palm expert.
The main sites of the project are the Northern and Southern Red Sea regions (NRS and SRS). Plantation of date palms began in 2017 with 2000 quality seedlings, imported through the assistance of the FAO. The seedlings planted in Foro, Afabet, Shieb, Massawa, Gahtelay (all located in the NRS region) are progressing well. Besides, seedlings were distributed to farmers in the SRS region, with the beneficiaries similarly making the project a success in their areas. So far, Arata, Assab, Southern, and Northern Danakalia areas are involved in the project.
Mr. Mussie noted that since the project was launched, more than 600 farmers and extension workers have benefited from theoretical and practical training programs. In addition to households, the project has secured the participation of institutional and semi-commercial enterprises. Overall, a total of 20,575 date palms were cultivated in the NRS and SRS regions.
According to Mr. Mussie, date palm cultivation offers many potential benefits. The propagation of date palm using tissue culture techniques can help increase production of high quality and healthy plants across large parts of the country, in a shorter period of time.
He added that micro-propagation of date palms has been carried out at NARI’s tissue culture laboratory, through somatic embryogenesis. The explants have been propagated through callus, embryo multiplication, shooting, and rooting stages. This technique usually takes 27 to 29 months to complete the process, from shoot tip to plantlets of date palm. Parallel to this, in the last four years more than 5,700 vitro-plants of date palm, from nine international varieties, were introduced, hardened, and distributed to local farmers.
The MoA, with the support of the FAO and IFAD, acquired the vitro-plants from a leading tissue culture laboratory in Dubai. To ensure hardening, they were kept in a nursery in Massawa for at least six months before transplanting.
Members of the public relations team of the MoA recently visited different project sites and conducted interviews with beneficiaries and experts, in the NRS and SRS regions.
Date Palm Production in the Northern Red Sea Region
Mr. Daniel Kesete
According to Mr. Daniel Kesete, Head of the Horticulture Unit in the NRS region, the cultivation of date palm in the region began in 1996, led by two exemplary farmers: Mr. Abdallah Swalah from Sheeb and Mr. Melake Gebrekrstos from Dogoli.
Mr. Daniel gave some background, explaining,
He noted that in 2017, the MoA revitalized date palm cultivation by carrying out successful capacity-building programs, importing high quality seedlings, and promoting production through tissue culture and offshoots.Initially, production started with seedlings prepared from date palm seeds. Subsequently, the Ministry of Agriculture brought seedlings from aboard in 1999. Not long after, the newly-introduced varieties were distributed to beneficiaries. Unfortunately, due to different challenges, the initiative didn’t find great success until 2017.
According to Mr. Daniel, 11,745 date palms are planted in the region, spread across five sub-zones: about 1059 trees in Gindae; more than 704 trees in Shieb; 511 in Afabet; 285 in Foro; and 9186 in Massawa.
Thanks to the regular training programs, local farmers have been able to better understand cultivation, propagation and pollination systems, and benefit from higher levels of production.
Adding a further point of encouragement, Mr. Daniel explained that there are plans to expand date palm production to more areas in the region, including both coastal and inland areas.
Date Palm Cultivation at Household Level
Mr. Abraham Tesfamariam, an urban gardener, lives in Massawa. He has two date palm trees on his land, with the seedlings being provided by the MoA in January 2021. Importantly, he has benefited from technical guidance offered by experts in the region and, although still early, his plants are in good condition.
Mr. Abraham believes that date palms offer a range of economic, environmental, and aesthetic benefits, and he looks forward to more training from the MoA so that he can better manage his date palm trees.
Ms. Brhana Okube
Ms. Brhana Okube, who resides in Massawa, also received two date palm seedlings from the MoA in January 2021.
Her plants, like Mr. Abraham’s, are in satisfactory condition, and she has made regular use of follow-ups and valuable information from the experts of the region. According to her, the MoA’s support has been extremely useful and helped her to acquire greater understanding of cultivation, propagation and pollination.
Notably, a group of 10 veteran fighters, all of whom are employed in a bakery in Massawa, came together to plant seven date palm trees in January 2021.
Ms. Tsigereda Gaim
According to Ms. Tsigereda Gaim, one of the group’s members, the group had already been involved in planting trees around their homes, mainly for shade. After hearing about the importance and many benefits of date palms, the group wanted to try them out.
Ms. Tsigereda explained, before adding,We received seedlings from the MoA nursery and replaced all of the trees planted earlier,
Other members of the group expressed their appreciation, for the extensive support provided by the MoA and noted their desire for more training or learning opportunities.Currently, the growth of the date palm trees is promising.
Institutional Initiatives
Massawa Airport
The Massawa Airport began planting date palms in 2003, both for wind break and aesthetic purposes. In 2017, with the help of the MoA, it began to focus on mass cultivation.
Mr. Salah Ahmed
Mr. Salah Ahmed, who manages the airport’s farm, described how date palms have become more significant.
In total, the airport has about 1300 date palm trees, while 31 staff members have participated in various training programs.Prior to 2017, we did not have enough knowledge about production and the trees bore no fruit.
However, since 2017, when we began to get guidance and support from the MoA, things have been much better. We have been able to pollinate all the trees and started harvesting around four years ago. In 2020, 260 trees began to bear fruits, while in 2021 that increased to 371 trees. Generally, we receive anywhere between 80 to 300 kilograms of fruits from each tree.
Semi-Commercial Date Palm Production
Mr. Abdallah Swalah
Mr. Abdallah Swalah is a semi-commercial farmer based in Sheeb (NRS region). He is well-known in the region for his long history of date palm farming, which dates back to 1994.
At present, he has 520 date palm trees, with 270 date palm trees being propagated through tissue culture. On average, he harvests about 150 kilograms of fruit per tree.
For Mr. Abdallah, backing from the government and MoA has been important. Over the years, he participated in many training workshops and also received economic and material support. Part of what makes Mr. Abdallah’s story so positive, is that date palm farming has provided him a sustainable means of income and allowed him to settle down (previously he was part of the nomadic community).
Eritrean Crop and Livestock Corporation (ECLC)
Mr. Adem Osman
Mr. Adem Osman, an agricultural expert from the ECLC’s NRS region Gahtelay branch, explained that they started planting date palm trees in 2017 with 345 trees of 9 varieties provided by the MoA.
He said that the trees are in good condition and that the ECLC has also started to propagate through offshoots, on its own. As a result, the ECLC branch is now producing around 300 seedlings using offshoots.
Mr. Adem expressed his appreciation for support of the MoA, explaining,
He also pointed out that since Gahtelay is a very favourable area for date palms, the government should aim to increase farming and production throughout the region.The role of the MoA, has been very positive. Everything we have achieved so far is because of their guidance, support, and technical advice.
The skills we have developed, especially in relation to date palm management, have helped us ensure the plants reach the harvesting stage.
Mr. Abdu Hamid Gebir Idris
The Public Relations staff of the MoA also visited Mr. Abdu Hamid Gebir Idris, a date palm farmer in Hitmlo (a sub-region of Massawa), who received around 400 date palm seedlings from the MoA in 2017.
Although his experience was mainly with farming vegetables, he enthusiastically took up date palm farming. With 1700 date palm trees spread across 16 hectares of land, he looks forward to a positive future.
Mr. Abdu stated.My trees, have started bearing fruits. However, since it is still the first year of production, I expect more in the years to come,
Mr. Tesfamichael Teklemichael
Mr. Tesfamichael Teklemichael is another farmer, hailing from Demas (sub-region of Ghindae). Before getting involved in the date palm project, he was producing vegetables, such as tomatoes and red peppers.
However, because many others farmers were producing the same things as he was, the prices went down. He went to the MoA for guidance and in response, experts recommended that investing in date palm trees could provide him benefits. After successfully applying for investment support from the MoA headquarters, he received 550 tree seedlings, along with theoretical and practical training for both farming and marketing.
Mr. Tesfamichael has been quite successful thus far and is appreciative of the backing provided by the MoA.
he said.The plants are still young and I am following proper management practices, with the help of experts. I want to be an example to others in my region and satisfy the demand of the surrounding areas, or even beyond. Lastly, I would like to thank the MoA, particularly for its active role in supporting farmers like me,
Southern Red Sea
Since the SRS region is conducive for date palm trees, the government has made many efforts to introduce date palms in the area.
Mr. Mohammed Abdurrahman
Mr. Mohammed Abdurrahman, Head of the Crop Development Division in the region, explained that date palm plantation started in the region in 2006.
But it was only after 2014, when the number of cultivated date palms really began to climb. At present, there are around 200 date palm farmers across the region, with a total of 8,830 date palm trees at various stages of growth. (Farmers in the region possess between 20 to 700 date palm trees, depending on their production capacity and area.)
According to Mr. Mohammed a total of 8830 date palms are planted in the region, spreading across four Sub regions; mainly sub regions Araeta 200 date palms; Assab 1500 date palms, southern Denkalia 1500 date palms; Central Denkalia 630 date palms & Government institutions 5000 date palms.
Notably, in Assab, many households have began to plant date palm, lemon, and guava trees. According to Mr. Mohammad, with date palm produce fetching great prices in local markets, there has been an increase in demand for date palm seedlings among local farmers.
Mr. Ahmed Kasim
Mr. Ahmed Kasim, from Mankaekae (sub-region of Assab), was a fisherman before joining the date palm project in 2000. He now has 400 trees – a huge increase from the 12 that he began with. Some of the trees he first planted, have began bearing fruit and provide between 50 to 150 kilograms each. Underneath his date palm trees, he plants seasonal crops, like watermelons, tomatoes, potatoes, and okra.
Like other farmers, Mr. Ahmed has benefited from MoA workshops and training programs. Beyond mastering general management practices, he is able to carry out pollination and also identify differences between male and female trees. Based on the successes that he has achieved so far, he plans to expand his farm to around 1000 trees.
Mr. Ahmed shared, before adding,I love date palm trees, because they have helped transform my life. I went from an ordinary fisherman, to a semi-commercial farmer,
I encourage all farmers in the region to consider planting date palms, because our area is particularly suitable.
Mr. Yosuf Ahmed
Another former fisherman, who made a positive transition to date palm farming is Mr. Yosuf Ahmed. Residing in Abo village (sub-region of Southern Dankalia), he began date palm production in 2002 and went from 15 trees to around 250 now. He also farms other items, such as peppers, potatoes, tomatoes, cotton, sorghum, and grass, and even distributes seedlings to other farmers.
Mr. Yosuf has benefited greatly from MoA support, increasing his understanding of date palm management. He now implements a range of date palm agronomic practices, including pollination, propagation, and preparation of seedlings from offshoots.
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An Interview with Dr. Abdallah Ben Abdallah
Source : Ministry of Agriculture Newsletter
Q & A
https://shabait.com/2022/01/12/an-inter ... -abdallah/
Jan 12, 2022
When it comes to the date palm cultivation, Dr. Abdallah, a widely respected international expert, has played an important and pioneering role in many countries; including Eritrea. We had the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Abdallah, to talk about his experiences and discuss the development of palm date farming in Eritrea.
Question: Could you please tell us about your background in this field?
Answer: From a young age, I had close familiarity with date palm farming. My father is a date palm farmer, in the southern part of Tunisia. Later, as a Masters and PhD student, studying to be an agronomist engineer, I focused on the science of date palm trees and their nature. It is just something I enjoy very much and I believe date palm farming is extremely rewarding.
I started my career, as the first director of the Date Palm Research Center in Tunisia. I worked there, for 10 years. Additionally, for 17 years, I have worked as an international consultant for the FAO and a senior date palm specialist, allowing me to visit many countries, such as Yemen, Namibia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Eritrea. In 2018, I received the prestigious Khalifa Award for Date Palm and Agriculture Innovation, in recognition of my contributions and expertise related to date palm farming.
Q: Could you tell us, about some of your publications?
A: Until this point, I have published around 40 articles on the topic of date palms. These publications are in leading, peer-reviewed journals. I have also published books, including, “The Impact of Good Agriculture Practices on the Production and the Quality of Dates”, and “The National Strategy for the Date Palm Sector in Egypt”. My biggest satisfaction, however, comes from the fact that I have trained more than 1000 date palm farmers in countries around the world.
Q: When did you visit Eritrea, for the first time?
A: I first came to Eritrea in 2017, when I was appointed by the FAO to be a team leader of a technical cooperation project between the FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture. The project helped lead NARI staff in Halhale, to initiate tissue culture propagating techniques for date palm. The project also enhanced date palm farming in various areas of the country, as well as helped in introducing best date palm varieties and their relevant technical activities prior to planting. Another important aspect of the project was its capacity-building component, particularly as it helped raise awareness and understanding among local experts and farmers.
Q: What is your current mission in Eritrea?
A: Through the Ministry of Agriculture, I am here for a NAP/IFAD project. The objective is to continue assisting the tissue culture staff in NARI for propagating date palm in vitro and training locals in the Northern and Southern Red Sea Regions, on good date palm cultivation practices. It has been a pleasure, to work in Eritrea.
Q: You are widely credited, for helping to improve date palm development in Namibia. Can you tell us a bit more, about this?
A: Before 1995, Namibia was a country where date palm farming was not well known. There were only a few date palms produced from seeds, with low quality dates. In 1996, the government began to invest and also requested technical assistance from the FAO.
Later, with the assistance of the FAO, a date palm production programme was implemented over a five year period. The programme was launched by piloting three areas: Ersbegin, Naute, and Aussenkher. In these areas only international varieties, such as Medjool, Barhee, and Boufagous – were planted.
In addition, the programme was supporting private farmers to invest in date palms. We were distributing 10 date palms to each household, poor farmers, and women’s associations. In the first five years, the number of date palm farmers grew to 50, while 14,946 date palms were planted on an area of around 162 hectares.
During the second phase, which also ran for five years, the program increased to reach more than 200,000 date palm trees that were producing good quality dates. These were of the Barhee variety and produced an average of 350 kilograms. Soon, more private farmers began to get involved and Namibia became recognized as a country with quality dates.
Q: What lessons from your experience in Namibia and your experience from home, could you share with us?
A: There are several, which I will try to summarize. First, when you start a new date palm sector in a country, it is important to work in parallel on three levels: sectoral/government level, the level of private farmers, and the household or communal farming plantation level. Second, close technical assistance that includes training programs is necessary during the establishment phase of the sub-sector for both the production and post-harvest phases. Third, the selection of good yielding and internationally known or loved varieties is important. Fourth, when a country is new to date palm cultivation, it is better and easier to start with a few good varieties.
Q: In your opinion, what are the prospects of date palm development in Eritrea?
A: During this first phase, running from 2017 to 2021, the results of growing and fruiting of offshoots planted in 2017 have been a real success. One of the factors contributing to this good growth, is the rich soil around the Red Sea coast. These results confirm, the huge potential of the Red Sea coast regions for date palm farming.
To date, Eritrea, like in the case of Namibia during its own first phase, has only around 20,000 date palm trees. However, if a date production support programme is properly implemented, the country could easily reach 100,000 to 200,000 date palm trees in just five to seven years.
I learned from a young age, that the date palm tree is a sacred tree. It can be harvested for more than 50 years and if well managed, can bear fruits for 70 years. Moreover, in each harvest season, which typically occurs once a year, one tree is able to produce between 100 and 300 kilograms of dates depending on the variety.
Although many challenges remain, none of them seem insurmountable. Eritrea’s success in this sub-sector, could surprise the world. I believe that the establishment of a date production industry in Eritrea could support income generation, increase foreign exchange earnings, expand work and investment opportunities, and positively contribute to desertification control.
Q: In your opinion, which regions in Eritrea are most ideal for date palms?
A: The ideal regions for growing date palm trees, are the Northern and Southern Red Sea regions. Some areas in Gash Barka, could also have potential. Important factors, like rich alluvial soils, the availability of heat requirement for maturation of dates from April to September, and underground water, are found in these regions. During my current mission, we will try to give an order of priority to different areas in both the Northern and Southern Red Sea regions for planting date palm. However, I generally believe that Eritrea meets most of the requirements that date palm farming needs. The soil is good, the water is there, and the climate is ideal. Eritrea’s climate is characterized generally by three seasons, which is also a good factor suiting the cultivation of different varieties of date palm trees.
Q: How is your cooperation with the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI), particularly in terms of tissue culture propagation for date palm production?
A: The staff members of the tissue culture laboratory, are very dedicated and enthusiastic. That is why they have succeeded in producing date palm vitro-plants, while their capacity was proven by the first culture performed since 2017. They were successful and led to the production of complete vitro-plants of date palm, from female inflorescences. Although some minor problems still persist, we will collaborate and address them. It should be noted, that it is not easy to propagate date palm through tissue culture.
Q: What are the gaps you have identified in date palm production in the country? How do you assess the farms?
A: We planted palms and worked with many farmers, in the Northern and Southern Red Sea regions. What pleased me most, was the willingness of the people to work. The first steps of growing international varieties of date palm, are generally successful. However, there are some farmers who prioritize vegetable crops for irrigation, especially in Foro and Afabet, and this was negatively affecting the growth of young date palms.
In brief, the only thing lacking in many plantation sites is technical knowledge. However, that is set to grow. The next step is promoting technical knowledge on how to produce good quality dates, execute the bunch management, harvest dates of different varieties, and handle, pack, store, and market these dates. We will also need some studies in the future to explore the capacity of the national market and value chain.
Q. Your main task here, is transferring knowledge and skills to Eritrean experts and farmers. How is this going?
A: I would express my admiration for the willingness shown by the MoA, the extension staff, the NARI staff, and farmers more generally. Everyone is ready to learn and cooperate.
During this current mission, we have trained 283 participants in Asmara, Halhale, Northern and Southern Red Sea region. We are focusing on tissue culture, good agricultural practices, and controlling date palm pests and diseases. Considering the diversity of the trainees, we are using English, Arabic, and Tigrinya languages. Moreover, manuals and brochures were distributed to all trainees.
We are planning to conduct similar training workshops in the Southern Red Sea region, soon. Knowledge transfer, should be a continuous process.
Q: When do you think Eritrea can fully meet domestic needs and begin to aim for export?
A: Based on my experience, and assuming that the Date Production Support Programme is implemented successfully, Eritrea could meet domestic market demands very soon and begin to export within 6 to 7 years.
Q: Is there anything else, you would like to share?
A: I would like to mention, that I have been received warmly and the people have been extremely welcoming. I had no problem, in communicating and delivering my discources. It is a real pleasure to be in Eritrea. I spent a lot of time in Asmara and Massawa, as well as Assab. Eritrea is a beautiful country and what pleased me most is the people’s willingness, to learn and work. In the not too distant future, dates will be a major export commodity from Eritrea. I wish all the best to the farmers, the Ministry, and the nation.
