30% reduction in date production in Bam
These days, the southern and eastern regions of the province are engaged in harvesting their dates, and this product has many properties, including the return of energy and lost youth, which in the Qur’an and other holy books also mentions the properties of this healing fruit.
The date palm has countless properties and it can be said that all parts of the tree can be used and an Arabic proverb says that the properties of the palm tree are equal to the days of the year.
Mohammad Zangi, the head of Bam agricultural jihad, stated: Bam city has cold and tropical regions and has a variety of agricultural products such as pistachio dates, citrus fruits, alfalfa, etc., of which dates are the most prominent.
He added: Mazafati date cultivar, which is very famous in Iran and foreign countries, is a genuine and economic product of the people of this city.
Zangi stated: in terms of area under cultivation with more than 1000 hectares, it is one of the top producing cities and in terms of quality, it has the first rank in the country with an average yield of 9 tons per hectare and the total production of the city is 70,000 tons per year. Unfortunately, this year, this yield has decreased by 30% due to the fall and drying of the clusters and has reduced the harvest to 50,000 tons.
He said: In general, the factors that reduce date production are unfavorable atmospheric factors, environmental factors including heat, strong winds and a decrease in relative humidity that leads to falling and drying, pest outbreaks such as date chain horned beetle, fruit-eating cream Vinegar flies and ticks collect fungal diseases that cause date fruit rot.
Zangi described the technical recommendations for dealing with the factors that reduce the date crop and added: In general, the most important cause of shedding and drying is the excessive increase in ambient temperature, which we can minimize with several methods.
He mentioned the use of plastic and hemp mats on the spikes, intercropping by alfalfa and sorghum, the use of manure to maintain soil moisture, the creation of windbreaks to prevent strong wind damage and the reduction of moisture, the use of suitable fertilizers to increase tree resistance. He stated the solutions in this regard.
The head of Jihad Keshavarzi of the province raised his problems and suggestions and reminded: date palm has many main and secondary products and products such as fresh fruit (rotab) low moisture fruit, date juice, date vinegar, date paste, confectionery Cooking, date sugar, date honey, date chips and …
He mentioned the use of fibers and tissues for handicrafts, the use of palms for old construction, the use of twigs and leaves for the paper industry, chicks and livestock consumption, the use of date kernels for the production of bread flour and also the consumption of livestock.
Zangi said: Due to the variety of date products and the lack of conversion industries, it is necessary to make more investments in this field, which will create employment opportunities for a large number of workers.
He stressed: Due to the existence of intermediaries that cause dissatisfaction of farmers and producers, economic enterprises in this region should be set up.
Zangi added: This issue provides guaranteed purchase and sale at a reasonable price in this area.
He added: Due to the high quality of Mazafati cultivar, we can provide more dates for export in this region through marketing.