Development of Date Palm

8/13/2019 Development of Date Palm

1/43

DevelopmentofSustainableDatePalmProductionSystems

inGulfCooperationCouncilCountriesUpdateonresearchinprogressinKingdomofBahrain,StateofKuwait,Sultanateof

Oman,StateofQatar,KingdomofSaudiArabiaandStateoftheUnitedArabEmirates

(20072010).

ProjectReport-1


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Acknowledgments

ThisreportwascompiledbyDr.MohammedAlAbid,datepalmprojectmanager(ICARDAOman),

withtheinputofnationalresearchersandcoordinatorsintheGCCcountriesDr.AbdulAzizAbdul

Kareem,Dr.

Ahmed

Bin

Nasser

Al

Bakry,

Dr.

Bander

Al

Ataiby,

Eng.

Saud

A.

Al

Eyyed,

Eng.

Asaad

MohamedAlRomaih,Eng.MansoorIbrahim,,Eng.YousafAlKhulaifi,Eng.AdnanAbdullahAfalek,

Eng.SawsanAlSalem,Eng.SadiqIsaMansoorEng.RashidKhamisBurshaid,Dr.IshaqAhmed

MohamedAlRuqaishiEng.AbdullahJ.B.AlBuainain,andGCCSGrepresentativeDr.KhalidAl

Zedjali,Dr.MohamedAaouine,formermanagerofthisproject(20072010).Compiledbythecurrent

projectmanagerDr.MohammadAlAbid.EditedbyLinaArafeh(ICARDA).

ISBN: 9291272525`

Keywords:Date palm production; Crop Management; Integrated Pest Management; Biodiversity and

germplasm conservation; Postharvest techniques; Red Palm Weevil; Lesser Date Moth; Dubas;

borers;problemsolvingresearch;technologytransfer;capacitybuilding;irrigationsystems;chemical

andorganicfertilization;packaging;liquidpollination;DNAextraction;fingerprinting;citricacid;fruit

thinning; organic farming; natural enemies; drying methods; marketing; primer combinations;

KingdomofBahrain;StateofKuwait;SultanateofOman;StateofQatar;KingdomofSaudiArabia;

Stateof

the

United

Arab

Emirates;

GCC

countries;

Arab

Peninsula;

ICARDA;

International

Center

for

AgriculturalResearchintheDryAreas.

InternationalCenterforAgriculturalResearchintheDryAreas(ICARDA)

P.O.Box5466,Aleppo,Syria.

Tel:(96321)2213433

Fax:

(963

21)

2213490

Email:[email protected]

Website:www.icarda.org

Theviewsexpressedarethoseoftheauthors,andnotnecessarilythoseofICARDA.Wheretrade

namesareused,itdoesnotimplyendorsementof,ordiscriminationagainst,anyproductbythe

Center.Mapshavebeenusedtosupportresearchdata,andarenotintendedtoshowpolitical

boundaries.

Copyright2011ICARDA(InternationalCenterforAgriculturalResearchintheDryAreas)

Allrightsreserved.


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TableofContents

ExecutiveSummary

1. Introduction1.1 Backgroundandcontext

1.2 Projectoverview

1.3

Workplan

2007

2010

2. Projectachievementsbycountry20072010

2.1 Problemsolvingresearch

2.2 Technologytransfer

3. Projectachievementsbyresearchtheme20072010

4.Summary

of

achievements

other

topics

and

activities

4.1 Technologytransferandknowledgesharingactivities

4.2CapacityBuilding

5. ConstraintsandActions

6. WorkplanYear201120127. Annexes

Annex1 Publications

Annex2 TrainingCoursesandWorkshops

Annex3 ActivitiesbyCountry

Annex4 ResearchActivities

Annex5 Meetings


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ExecutiveSummary

DevelopingSustainableDatePalmProductionSystemsintheGulfCooperationCouncilCountries.

Reportofactivitiesandachievements,20072010

Thepurposeofthisreport istoupdatepartnersandstakeholders involvedontheachievementsandprogresstodateof

theproject:

Development

of

Sustainable

Date

Palm

Production

Systems

in

the

Gulf

Cooperation

Council

Countries.

The DatePalm project isa partnership between ICARDA the InternationalCenter forAgriculturalResearch in theDry

AreasandtheKingdomofBahrain,StateofKuwait,SultanateofOman,StateofQatar,KingdomofSaudiArabiaandState

oftheUnitedArabEmirates.

Thisresearchanddevelopmentprojectaimstoproducenewknowledgeandpracticestoimprovetheproductionsystems

fordatepalmintheGulfregion.Thisworkincludesimprovingcultivarsproductivity,managingnaturalresources(landand

water)foroptimalperformance;useofdifferent inputs inthecroppingprocess(fertilizers,pollinators,wastewater,etc.),

and the study of genetic diversity of datepalm. The transfer of technology and experience between the partners is an

integralpartoftheproject.

Overviewof

activities

2007

2010

ProjectComponent FocalArea

ResearchArea Bahrain KSA Kuwait Qatar UAE Oman

1.Cropmanagement 2.Integratedpestmanagement 3.Postharvesttechniques 4.Biodiversityconservation Summaryofachievements20072010

Cropmanagement: researchers in the projects crop management component found that that fruit thinning and using

sewagewaterthroughbubblersgavebetteryieldand fruitquality.TheseresultsarebeingtransferredtotheotherGulf

Countries. Crop protection and integratedpestmanagement: these researchers identified two pesticides, effective in

reducingfruitinfestationandidentifiednaturalenemiesofLesserDateMoth;morethan305datepalmpestswhichbelong

to

twenty

two

orders

were

identified

through

faunal

survey

and

their

predators,

belonging

to

seventeen

species,

were

documentedasabiologicalpest infestationcontrolmeasure.Scientistsstudyingpostharvesttechniquesconcludedthat

dryingfruitinlocallymadeglasschambersreducedtheperiodofdryingfrom12to5days;theproductionofaddedvalue

ingredientsuchascitricacidfromnonmarketabledatesbyusingmoderntechniqueswasinvestigated.Studiesweredone

ofconsumerpreferences fordatepalmpackaging.Biotechnologyconservation: facilities forgenomicanalysesandDNA

extraction were established in all countries; fingerprinting of date palm cultivars was done to determine their genetic

diversity level. A bulletin on harvesting and postharvest handling of dates was prepared and distributed in Arabic and

English;Publications resulted fromthework todate (see list inAnnex1);85 researcherswere trained indifferent fields

(Annex2);variousprocessesmethodsweretestedanddocumented.

Researchpartners

also

identified

anumber

of

constraints.

These

include:

aneed

for

more

training

courses

with

content

thatbetterfitstheskilllevelofparticipantsandforbettertraininginfrastructureinsomecountries.Anadequatebudget

andasmoothpaymentscheduleisaneednotalwaysmetduetothedelayinreceivingallocatedbudgetasaresultof

countryregulations.Theslowresponseinboth,dealingwithprojectrequirementssuchaspublicationsandprogress

reportsaswellasindealingwithlimitedbudgetandslowbudgettransferwasfoundtobeahindrancetothedevelopment

oftheproject.


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.1. Introduction1.1 Backgroundandcontext

Thedate

palm

tree

tolerates

relatively

harsh

climatic

and

soil

conditions

under

which

no

other

cropwillgivereasonablereturns. It isan irreplaceabletree in irrigabledesert lands,providing

protectiontoundercropsfromheat,windandotherthreatsandplaysabigroleincombating

desertification.

Datepalmofferscountriesapracticalsolutiontoimprovefoodsecurityandrurallivelihoods.It

is a good food source of high nutritive value that offers dategrowing countries in the Gulf

CooperationCouncil(GCC)astablefoodsourcefortheirpopulations.Datepalmalsoprovides

workopportunities

to

aconsiderable

numbers

of

farm

laborers.

Today, the date palm industry is facing serious problems. These include low yields, a lack of

appropriatepackingandpresentation, limitedproductionofsound industrialdateproducts,a

lackof technological knowhow, and threats from pests such as Lesser DateMoth, Red Palm

Weevil,dustmites,borers,Dubas,etc.

Toaddressthese issuesandsetprioritiesforresearchanddevelopment,theGulfCooperation

Council

countries

joined

the

Consultative

Group

on

International

Agricultural

Research

(CGIAR)

in 2003, and assigned the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas

(ICARDA) to facilitate a research initiative on date palm in the NationalAgricultural Research

Systems,(NARS)oftheparticipatingcountries1

1.2 Projectoverview

The project on Development of Sustainable Date Palm Production Systems in the Gulf

CooperationCouncilCountriesresultingfromthispartnershipwascreatedin2004.

Box1.

Project

components

and

research

themes

ProjectComponent FocalArea

ResearchThemes

1. Problemsolvingresearch PropagationandCropManagement Cropprotectionandintegratedpestmanagement Postharvesthandlingandprocessingtechniques,

marketingandprocessing

Biotechnologyandgermplasmconservation2. Technologytransfer Transferandadoptionofsuitabletechnologiesdeveloped

regionally and/orinternationally

3. Capacitybuilding Strengtheningnationalagriculturalresearchsystems(NARS)andprovidingspecializedtrainingfornationalresearchstaff,

extensionagentsandfarmersintheparticipatingcountries

4. Technologyandexpertsystems

Technologyandexpertsystemstodevelopadatepalmexpert

system


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1.3Workplan20072010:

Thedatepalmresearchprojecthas58activities,see(Table1)and(Annex3&4)

Table1:Numberofdatepalmresearchactivitiesapprovedamonglisted(GCC)countries

2. Projectachievementsbycountry20072010

2.1 Problemsolvingresearch

KingdomofBahrain1. CropManagement: The effect of chemical and organic fertilizers on the production and

growth of date palm is under investigation, and the use of liquid pollination for the

improvementofthedatepalmyieldandqualitywaseffective.Furtheronfarmverificationis

underprogress

2. IntegratedPestManagement:Morethan305datepalmpests,whichbelongto22orders,were identified through faunal survey and their predators which belong to seventeen

speciesweredocumentedasabiologicalpestinfestationcontrolmeasure

3. Biodiversity and germplasm conservation: Facilities for genomic studies were alsoestablished.

KingdomofSaudiArabia

1. CropManagement:Threemalepollinatorswithexcellentpollenviabilityandgermination,together with their contribution to the yield enhancement have been identified. On the

otherhand,preharvestwithholdingof irrigationwas ineffectiveonskinseparationof the

fruit

2. IntegratedPestManagement: A survey detected two dust mite species and their controlmeasure.Usingpesticide BiacaoNo.1 (0.36%Matrine)provedeffective;severalpredators

to control Lesser Date Moth (LDM) as a biological control measure were identified; in

addition,biopesticide (Spinosad)wasstudiedandwasalsoeffectiveagainst thecontrolof

LDM

3. Postharvesthandlingandprocessing techniques: Research identified new, moresuitablepackaging containers for date fruits, determined their optimum storage conditions for

maximumefficiency,andrankedtheiracceptancebydateconsumers

4. Biodiversity Conservation: Important local cultivars of date palm were characterized andtheir DNA fingerprint data was established

ResearchArea Bahrain KSA Kuwait Qatar UAE Oman Total

1.Cropmanagement 2 2 6 2 2 9 23

2.Integratedpestmanagement 1 3 1 1 1 2 9

3.Postharvesttechniques 0 1 1 1 3 1 7

4.Biotechnology 1 1 1 3 1 2 9

SubTotal 4 7 9 7 7 14 48


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3. Postharvest handling and processing techniques: Researchers identified new and moresuitablepackagingcontainersfordatefruits,determined theiroptimumstorageconditions

formaximumefficiency,andrankedtheiracceptancebydateconsumers

4. BiodiversityConservation: Important local cultivars of dates were characterized and theirDNAfingerprintdatawasestablished.

Qatar1. CropManagement:Fruitthinningtoimproveventilationprovedtobeveryeffective;buton

farmtestingisstillunderprogress;studiesonirrigationscheduleisunderway

2. Postharvest handling and processing techniques: Using locally made glass chambers,equipped

with

shelves

and

ventilation,

was

effective

for

drying

dates

in

shorter

periods,

(5

days only, vs. 12 days under plastic tunnels, or 1418 days for direct sun drying) and for

reducingskinseparation.Datefruitsdriedinthischamberweremuchcleaner

3. Biodiversity Conservation: Genetic diversity focused on the study of 12 local cultivars,established DNA markers identified to detect the male date palms; newly designed SSR

markersdevelopedby(ICARDA)wereverifiedandtheirefficiencyingeneticcharacterization

wasconfirmed.

UnitedArabEmirates1. CropManagement:Waterrequirementsfordatepalmproductionareunderinvestigation2. Postharvest handling and processing techniques: Two biopesticides were effective in

controlling infestation by borers and mites, verification in other (GCC) countries is under

way; Biopesticide: Baicao No.1 (0.36% Matrine) succeeded in controlling dust mite

infestation

3. Postharvesthandlingandprocessingtechniques:Usingaglasshousetoreducetheperiodoffruitdryingandimprovethefruitqualitywaseffective;technologyisbeingtransferredto

growers; Tamar stage of fruit harvesting yielded high quality fruits with reduced skin

separation

4. BiodiversityConservation:Important localcultivarsofdateswere identifiedandtheirDNAwasextractedforgeneticcharacterizationandDNAfingerprinting.

Sultanateof

Oman

1. CropManagement:StudiesontheeffectofthesourceofpollengrainonfruitsetindicatedthatsourcesofGhareefandKhoori,wereeffectiveonthefruitsetofZabadcultivar,andthat

pollen source of Bahlani was effective in enhancing the fruit weight. The application of

Boronwasineffectiveinenhancingthefruitset.Significanteffectsofpreharvestapplication

ofEthephoneon fruitripening,shrinkingand falling inNighalcultivarwere identified,and


8/43

established; tissueculturederived from these genotypeswas uniform at the genetic level

usingSSRmarkeranalysis,(Annex3and4)

2.2 Technologytransfer1. Thestrategyonthecontrolofredpalmweevilwaselaboratedintheinternationalmeeting

onRed PalmWeevilControlStrategyheld inElche,Spain inApril2324,2007 and itwas

dispatchedtothe(NARS)ofparticipating(GCC)countries

2. Arabic and English versions of a bulletin containing the latest developments andaccumulated knowledge on postharvest handling techniques published by (ICARDA) were

distributed among the six countries. Other pertinent publications in this field were

purchasedfromUniversityofCaliforniaDavisanddistributedamongtheinvolved(NARS)

3. Fourthematicmeetingswereconductedtosharetheresultsofdatepalmprojectamongthe(NARS)oftheparticipating(GCC)countries

4. Effectivetechniquesidentifiedinthedatepalmprojectarebeingtransferredtothegrowers'field.

3. Projectachievementsbyresearchtheme20072010

Table4: NumberofprogressandachievementsmadeamongGCCcountries

Research

Area

Bahrain

KSA

Kuwait

Qatar

UAE

Oman

Total

1. PropagationandCropmanagement 2 2 6 2 2 7 21

2. CropprotectionandIntegratedpestmanagement 1 3 1 0 1 2 8

3. Postharvesthandlingandprocessingtechniques 0 1 1 1 3 1 7

4. Biotechnologyandgermplasmconservation 1 1 1 3 1 2 9

SubTotal 4 7 9 6 7 12 45

Theme1:PropagationandCropManagement

Out of 23 research activities carried out in three (GCC) countries, progress was made for 21

activities, and key results were generated under the thematic area of propagation and crop

managementofdatepalmresearch,See(Table4).

Outof13techniquesanalyzed,tenwerefoundeffective;onewasineffective in improvingthe

date palm productivity. Effective techniques were transferred to the growers' field and the

(NARS)ofthe(GCC)countiesinvolved.Theineffectivetechniquefortheyieldimprovementwas

suspended.Some

of

the

research

activities

are

still

under

investigation

and

the

results

are

yet

tobegenerated.Thekeyconclusionsgeneratedare:

1. Useofbubblersseemstobethebestirrigationsystemforthedatepalmproduction2. Withholdingirrigationbeforeharvestisnotrelatedtoskinseparationofthefruit3. Theeffectivenessofthinning, liquidpollinationanduseofringsto improveventilationwas

ff ti d lt b i t f d t


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8. Evaluation and selection of male pollinators and mulching experiments are still underinvestigation

9. TheeffectofBorononfruitsetprovedineffectiveandtheexperimentsweresuspended.Theme2:Cropprotectionandintegratedpestmanagement(IPM)

Progress was made in eight out of the nine undertaken activities. Crop protection and

integratedpestmanagementresearchactivitiesfocusedonidentifyingthemajorpestsofdate

palm fruit infestation, as well as on their natural enemies, if any, and on identifying suitable

controlmeasuresusing insecticidesandpesticides,withthespecialfocusonmajorpestssuch

as: Lesser Date Moth (LDM), dust mites and borers. Pest control methods which are found

effective were further tested in the growers' field and the (NARS) of the (GCC) counties

involved.Surveyprocess identifiedafewnaturalLDMenemiesandmorenaturalenemiesare

beinginvestigated.Thekeyinformationgeneratedisasfollows:

1. Survey results indicated more than 305 pest species representing 22 genera in Bahrain,KuwaitandKSA

2. Out of three pesticides tested, Trebon20%EC and Kingbo 0.6%SL were effective againstthemajorpestLesserDateMoth (LDM) inreducingfruitinfestation

3. Seventeennaturalenemies predatorsrepresentingfiveordersforthecontrolofLDM wereidentifiedandarebeingevaluated

4. SurveyforadditionalnaturalenemiesofLDMisunderway5. BiopesticideSpinosadwasveryeffectiveagainsttheearlierknownpredatorsofLDMpest.

Thiswouldbefurthertestedinotherpartnercountries

6. Twobiopesticideswereeffectiveagainsttheinfestationofborersandmitesbuttheyneedfurtherverificationintheother(GCC)countries

7. Biopesticide Baicao No.1 (0.36% Matrine)provided a good level of control against dustmites

8. ConventionalinsecticideNironewaseffectiveincontrollingdustmites.Theme3:Postharvesthandlingandprocessingtechniques

Progress was made in all seven research activities. The key activities focused on identifying

suitable drying methods, packagingmaterials, storage conditions and the production of citric

acid from dates a valueadded product. The techniques which were effective were further

testedin

the

growers'

field

and

at

the

(NARS)

of

the

(GCC)

counties

involved.

The

following

key

results were generated under the thematic area of postharvest handling and processing

techniques:

1. Usingsmallglasshouses,withacapacityof18tonsperseasoninUAEprovedeffective;andtheMinistryofEnvironmentandWatersubsidized50%oftotalcostfortheestablishmentof


10/43

4. Identifying thebest packaging containers and storage conditions for importantcultivars isstill underway but some preliminary results were obtained concerning the size of the

container,itsnatureandlevelofacceptancebyboth,thepackinghousesandtheconsumers

5. Usingthesubmergedtechniquefortheproductionofcitricacidfromdatesprovidedbetterresultsinreducingthefermentationperiodcomparedtothesurfacetechnique.

Theme4:Biotechnologyandgermplasmconservation

Nineoutofnineactivitiesunderthematicareaofbiotechnologyandgermplasmconservationin

datepalmresearchwerecompleted.ThekeyactivitiesfocusedonestablishingDNAfingerprint

dataset for the local cultivars of date palm and the assessment of their genetic diversity.

Facilitiesforgenomicstudieswereeitherestablishedorupgradedinafew(GCC)countries.The

keyinformationgeneratedincludes:

1. Asetofeighteen,simplesequencerepeat(SSR)markerswasscreenedamong24genotypesbelongingtofour(GCC)countries,namelySaudiArabia,Kuwait,BahrainandOman.Atotal

of610alleleswereidentifiedwithanaverageof29allelesperlocus(rangeof1332alleles)

andtheirpolymorphisminformationcontent(PIC)valuewas 0.88(0.810.93)

2. Facilitieswereestablishedand/orupgradedinSaudiArabiaandQatar3. FacilitiesforDNAextractionwereestablishedinKuwait,BahrainandUAE4. Asetof12samplesoftissueculturederivedplantsofKhalasaDhahravariety,alongwith

their female parent, were analyzed with 20 (SSR) markers to identify the polymorphism

amongthetestsamples,andnopolymorphismwasdetected

5. In collaboration with Cornell University, (ICARDA) developed a set of 1000 SSR markers.Thirtymarkersweretestedfortheirefficiencytoamplifylocaldatepalmcultivarsand found

to be polymorphic as well as codominant, which can be used for the genetic diversity

analysisofdatepalm

6. Optimizing methods to reduce cost, time and effort for samples analysis is underway(Annex4).

4. Summaryofachievementsothertopicsandactivities

4.1 Technologytransferandknowledgesharingactivities

StrategyforcontrolofRedPalmWeevil

ThestrategyforthecontroloftheRedPalmweevilthatwaselaboratedbyaninternational

Panel,includingthedatepalmcoordinatorandscientistsfrom(GCC)countriesatElche

Spainin2007wassenttotheinvolved(NARS)oftheinvolvedcountries.

Transfer of most recent knowledge and practices on postharvest handling and

i t h i f d t d i th USA


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Transferoftechniquestestedindatepalmresearchtogrowers'field

Technologyondatedryinginsmallglasshouseswastransferredtogrowers'fieldsinthe

UAE

Techniques

such

as

liquid

pollination,

fruit

drying

in

plastic

houses,

the

application

of

Ethrelonthinningandthoserelatedtothebestharvestingstageforimproveddryingand

identifying the effective pesticides and biopesticides are ready to be transferred to

growers.

ThematicMeetings

Four thematic meetings were organized to promote the sharing of results, ideas and

experiencebetweenthescientistsandNARSrepresentativesintheparticipatingcountries.

1. Postharvest techniques' meeting was held in Ras AlKhaima, UAE, in the period of 1516March,2009.Themeetingwasattendedby11scientistsandtwointernationalexperts

2. Integrated PestManagement meeting in Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain, was held in theperiod of 2226 March, 2009. The meeting was attended by 14 scientists and four

internationalexperts

3. CropmanagementmeetinginKuwaitcity,StateofKuwait,washeldintheperiodof1213April,2009.Themeetingwasattendedby17scientistsandoneexpert

4. Biotechnologymeeting was held in Rumais, Sultanate of Oman on 11 May, 2009. Themeeting

was

attended

by

13

scientists

and

four

international

experts.

The

reports

of

each

meetingarein(Annex5).

4.1 CapacityBuilding

ICARDAgaveanumberoftrainingcoursesandworkshopstoresearchers involved inthe

projecttoenhancetheirtechnicalskills.ThesesessionsweresupportedbytheDatePalm

ProjectFund.Theprojectteamalsoencouragedscientistsfromparticipatingcountriesto

attendconferencestopresenttheirwork.

Anumber

of

manuals

and

publications

were

prepared

or

provided

to

partners.

The

project

coordinatorattendedseveralmeetingsandconferencestogatherandupdateinformation

ondatepalmresearch,andhepublishedseveralreports.

5. ConstraintsandActions

The date palm research project is facing some issues which slow down the success rate of the

project.Thelistofbottlenecksandtheirpossiblesolutionsaredescribedasfollows:

1. Insufficient skilled human resources: Number of skilled national research staff is notenough to carry out diverse as well as sophisticated research activities. In addition, the

present researchers require more training and upgrading in research techniques,

experimentaldesign,statisticalresultanalyses,etc

2. Slowresponseindealingwithprojectrequirementssuchaspublications,progressreports,


12/43

Action is required to quantitatively and qualitatively support the NARS through increasing the

projectworkingstaffandcatchingupwithmoderntechnologyextensively.It isequallyrequiredto

increasethefundingtorespondtotheessentialrequirementsoftheongoingandplannedresearch

aswell

as

the

human

capacity

building

which

is

considered

vital

for

the

success

of

the

project.

6. Workplan20112012

To accomplish the project objectives, activities of research, technology transfer and capacity

building components will continue in 20112012. The number of research activities to be moved

forwardunderfourthematicareasinall(GCC)countriesissummarizedin(Table5).Thetotalof46

researchactivitieswillfurtherincrease.

Table5:

Number

of

research

activities

carried

forward

for

the

year

2011

2012

ResearchArea Bahrain KSA Kuwait Qatar UAE Oman Total

1. Cropmanagement 2 2 5 2 2 6 19

2.Integratedpestmanagement 1 3 1 3 1 2 11

3. Postharvest 0 1 1 1 3 1 7

4. Biotechnology 1 1 1 2 1 2 8

SubTotal 4 7 8 8 7 11 46


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IPMand

Plant

Protection

Lighttrapsusedtoassesstheimportanceand

distributionoftheinsectanddeterminethenumber

ofitsgenerations

IPM

and

Plant

protection

Differentfaunaidentifiedandnaturalenemiesfound

foroptimumpestcontrol

Biotechnology

SeparatingDNAusingGelelectrophoresissystem

Postharvesttechniques

Ventilatedglasschamberswithshelvesproducemuch

cleanerfruits

and

cut

down

date

drying

period

from

1418days,toonlyfivedays

Crop Management Crop Management


14/43

Annex1

Publications

SaudiArabia

1. StudyoftheGeneticfingerprintof25importantCultivarsinKSA,(HassanBouOweis,KhaledBouJleia;HajjiAshour)

2. Studyofthepreharvestwaterholdingonthefruitscaling,(NasserSalemAlGhanem;NabilAbdulRahmanBoudi;ShaheenHamadAlShaheen;SaoudAlSaoud)

3. SurveyStudyontheDatepackagesinKSAandthereceivingbytheconsumers,(MohammadAbdul Rahman Al Ghannam; Mohammad Ahmad Alajamal; Radhi Hassan Al Amer; Fakhry

AbdullahAlShareed;KhaledBouJleia)

4. FieldSurveyofDustMiteSpeciesinAlAhssa,(AbdullahAliAlShaqqaq;SalimMohammadAlBather; Mansour MohammadAlBaqshi;Sammi AhmadAl Sarroudj; Abdel MounemAli Al

Shawwaf;AbdelMounemAlDandan)

5. AssessmentandselectionofsomePollinatorinAlAhssaregionandStudytheireffectontheproductivityandqualityof the fruits, (AhmadAbdulAzizAlAmraan;MohammadSaad Al

Housseini;NabilMohammadAlWosseibaii;HajjiHousseinAlAshour;HajjiAliAlHajji)

Thesepublications

available

in

Arabic

only

SultanateofOman

1. Developmentofgenomictoolsforgermplasmcharacterizationindatepalm2. Assessmentofabnormalitiesfoundinthetissueculturederiveddatepalms.3. StudiesontheEffectofSourceofPollengrainsonFruitsetofZabadCultivar

SaidalSabahi;NaserAlAbri;SulaimanAlAmri;SalimAlHumami;MahmmodAlRashdi;

HamadAl

Dhuhli;

Mohamed

Al

Hinaai;

Mr.

Ibrahim

Al

Busaidi

4. EffectofBoronfoliarapplicationonfruitsetofZabadcultivar5. EffectofpreharvestapplicationofEthrelonripeningandqualityofNighaldates6. Study on effectof fruit thinning of Khalas Date Palm cultivar on fruit drop, ripening time,

yieldanddatesquality.

7. EffectofpreharvestapplicationofEthrelonKhalasAldahradatesripeningandquality8. Effectofmulchingwithpruningleavesofdatepalmonirrigationwateravailabilityanddate

palmgrowth,yieldandfruitquality.

9. Production of citric acid from dates (Mohammed AlAbid; Mansorah AlAmry; Fouziah AlRawahy).

Qatar


15/43

UAE

1. Study of the drying techniques and storage on the pollen viability and percentage ofsproutingof (phoenixdactyl)inAlHamraniyehResearchStation,(AmerMohammadBandar

AlAan;

Saeed

Hassan

Al

Bagham;

Mansour

Ibrahim

Mansour;

Saleh

Abdullah

Akrout;

Walid

MohammadAlSafadi)

2. Comparison study of the drying by the solar energy through the glass and plastic dryingchamber, and the thermal chamber, (Amer Mohammad Bandar Al Aan; Saeed Hassan Al

Bagham;MansourIbrahimMansour;SalehAbdullahAkrout)

3. IdentifyingthebestmaturitystageofLulu,BarhiandKhalasforDryingandMarketing,(AmerMohammad Bandar Al Aan; Saeed Hassan Al Bagham; Mansour Ibrahim Mansour; Saleh

AbdullahAkrout)

4. Feasibility study of different dates drying techniques with regards to economic feasibility,productioncapacityandoperationalcost,(AmerMohammadBandarAlAan;SaeedHassan

AlBagham;MansourIbrahimMansour)

ThesepublicationsavailableinArabiconly

Kuwait1. Crop Management trial on irrigation related research and fertilization research, (Abdul

Khaleq Abdul Ghaffar; Mohammad Awad Al Harbi; Abdul Daiem Abdul Raouf; Abdul Nabi

RashedAlShirazi;MahdiIbrahimAlQallaf)

2. Effectofharvestingandmethodsofpackagingandstorageonpostharvestlosses;(AhlaamIbrahimAlShareedah;NasserYaqoub;AbdulDaiemAbdulRaouf,HusseinAlQallaf,MahdiAl

Qallaf)

Thesepublications

available

in

Arabic

only

Bahrain

1. StudyoftheeffectoffertilizationbyOrganicandchemicalfertilizerontheproductivityof

KhalasCultivar;(AhmadAdamAhmadAlSaffi;SadeqEissaMansour;AbdulAzizMohammad)

2. Study on the effect of liquid pollination on the quantity and quality of Khalas cultivars,

(SadeqEissa

Mansour;

Ahmad

Al

Saffi;

Abdul

Aziz

Mohammad

Abdul

Karim)

ThesepublicationsavailableinArabiconly

EnglishPublication

1 Faunal Survey of Insects and Mites Associated with Date Palm in Kingdom of Bahrain


16/43

4. DevelopmentofSustainableDatePalmProductionSystems intheGCCCountries(ActivitiesonIntegratedPestManagementandPlantProtection)

Annex2

A2.1 TrainingCoursesandWorkshopsconductedby(ICARDA)

1. AspecializedtrainingcourseonDNAMarkerTechnologyforCropImprovementwasheldinMuscat, Oman in the period of November 1830, 2005. It was organized in collaboration

with the Ministry of AgricultureSultanate of Oman,. Four international experts were

involvedinthistrainingprogramand18scientistsof(GCC)countrieshavebenefitedfromit

2. AtrainingcourseonDatepalm invitroculture:ApplicationsandProspectswasconductedat the datepalm research center,Nizwa,SultanateofOman in theperiod ofMay2630,

2007.

Twoexperts

were

involved

in

this

training

course

and

atotal

of

17

scientists

from

(GCC)countriesweredulytrained

3. FollowingtherecommendationsofthethirdSteeringCommitteemeetingofthisproject,aworkshoponDatepostharvesthandlingandProcessing was conducted in Dubai, UAE in

theperiodofDecember911,2007 incollaborationwiththeMinistryofEnvironmentand

Water (MoEW) of the United Arab Emirates. Four international experts were involved in

thisworkshopand14scientistsof(GCC)countriesweretrainedinthisarea

4. AworkshoponDatePalmIntegratedPestManagementwasorganizedincollaboration withtheMinistry of MunicipalitiesAffairs andAgriculture, was held at Manama, Kingdom of

Bahrain in the period of March 24 26, 2009. With the support of seven international

experts,14scientistsof(GCC)countriesweretrainedinthisarea

5. AdvancedbiotechnologycoursewithstatisticalanalysiswasorganizedincollaborationwiththeMinistryofAgriculture,Muscat,andSultanateofOmanintheperiodofMay913,2009.

Seven international experts were involved in this course with the participation of 17

scientistsof(GCC)countries

6. OnthebasisofrequisitionbyMinistryofAgriculture,AfghanistanandthekindapprovaloftheMinistryofAgricultureofOman,aspecializedshortcourseondatepalmwasorganized

forfourAfghaniscientistsincollaborationwiththeMinistryofAgricultureoftheSultanate

ofOmanintheperiodof1217June2009

7. One technician from biotechnology laboratory in Oman was supported to undergo atrainingsessiononLatestdevelopmentsinthegenomicresearchareasofdatepalmandthe

DNA markers used for date palm characterization in the biotechnology laboratories of

(ICARDA),Aleppo

8. TwoscientistsfromKuwaitweresentonatrainingcourseinbiotechnologyinOman,intheperiodofMarch25tillApril4,2010.

A2.2 ConferenceandSymposiumsponsorship


17/43

A2.3 VisitsofProjectCoordinator

1. Date palm project coordinator visited California and Arizona to update the latestdevelopmentsindatepalmcultivationandpostharvesthandlingandprocessingofdatesin

the

period

of

January

11

19,

2009

2. The coordinator of the date palm Project, together with one scientist from OmanparticipatedintheSymposiumonRedPalmWeevilheldinItalyinMay1517,2010

3. To monitor the implementation of the recommendations made by Steering Committeemeetingsofdatepalmprojectamongtheconcerned(NARS),andtoassesstheprogressof

researchactivities,theprojectcoordinatorvisitedthesecentersseveraltimesin20072010

4. The coordinator of the date palm project dispensed several conferences and published anumberofpapers.

A2.4 ConsultancyServices

UponinvitationoftheArabAuthorityforAgriculturalinvestmentandDevelopmentandthekind

approvaloftheDirectorGeneralof(ICARDA),threeconsultancymissionswerecarriedoutfor

the Comoros to recommend the improvement of tissue culture laboratory, acquiring the

necessary equipment and supplies and offering suitable training for the technicians. Similar

supportwasalsoextendedtoSudan.

Annex3

ActivitiesbyCountry(20072010)

KingdomofBahrain

Bahrain isthe leadingcountry for the researchthemeofcropprotectionand integratedpest

management. Four research activities were set in the areas of crop management, crop

protection

and

IPM

and

biotechnology:

1. Theareaofcropmanagementseekstostudytheeffectofchemicalandorganicfertilizerson date palm growth and production and the effect of liquid pollination on date palm

qualityandquantity

2. TheareaofcropprotectionandIPMfocusesonthefaunalstudyoftheinsectsandpestsofdatepalm

3. Theareaofbiotechnologyfocusesonthedevelopmentofthegenomictoolsforgermplasmcharacterization

and

genetic

diversity

of

local

date

palm

varieties.


Saudi Arabia is the second leading country for the research theme of crop protection and

integrated pest management. Seven research activities were set in the areas of crop

management crop protection and IPM post harvest techniques and biodiversity conservation


18/43

Kuwait

Kuwait is the leading country for the research theme of crop management. A total of nine

researchactivitieswereset intheareasofcropmanagement,cropprotectionand IPM,post

harvest

and

the

biotechnology

as

follows:

1. Cropmanagementactivitiesseektostudytwoareasofresearch:irrigationandfertilization.Theirrigationcomponentstudiestheeffectofirrigationscheduleandthekindofmulching

ondatepalmgrowth,yieldandfruitqualityunderwaterscarcityconditions;effectofthree

irrigationsystemsonthegrowth,yieldandfruitquality,usingtreatedsewagewaterandthe

effectofplasticmulchingonweedcontrolusingdripirrigation.Thefertilizationcomponent

investigates the effect of fertilizer and its quantity effect of monthly applications of NPK

fertilizers

and

effect

of

foliar

applications

of

microelements

on

growth,

yield

and

fruit

quality

2. CropprotectionandIPMactivitiesstudythepestsanddiseasesofdatepalmthroughfieldsurveys

3. Postharvest handling and processing techniques study the effect of harvesting stage,packagingtechniquesandstorageconditionsonreducingthepostharvestlosses

4. TheareaofbiotechnologyseekstostudyinvitropropagationandgeneticdiversityQatar

QataristheleadingcountryinBiotechnology. Sevenresearchactivitiesweresetintheareasof

cropmanagement,andbiotechnologyasfollows:

1. Cropmanagementfocusesontheeffectoffruitthinningonfruitqualityandtheresponseofdatepalmtoirrigationwithtreatedsewagewater

2. Postharvesthandlingandprocessingtechniquesareastudiestheeffectofthreedifferentsolar

drying

techniques

on

scaling

of

dates

3. BiotechnologyactivitiesseektoestablishdatabaseondatepalmresearchUnitedArabEmirates

UAEistheleadingcountryinpostharvesthandlingandprocessingtechniques.Atotalofseven

researchactivitieswereset intheareasofcropmanagement,cropprotectionand integrated

pestmanagement,andpostharvesthandlingandprocessingtechniques:

1. Cropmanagementseekstoassessdatepalmwaterrequirementsusingdifferentirrigationsystems and study the economic return and environmental effect of organic farming on

datepalmtrees

2. CropprotectionandIPMstudiestheefficacyofdifferentpesticidesondustmiteinfestation3. Postharvest handling and processing techniques activities focus on the identification of

best drying system using solar energy; best harvesting stage for improved drying and


19/43

SultanateofOman

OmanistheleadingcountryinBiotechnology.Thirteenresearchactivitiesweresetintheareas

of crop management, crop protection and IPM, postharvest handling and processing

techniques

and

biotechnology:

1. Cropmanagementprobesintotheeffectofpollengrainssource;femalereceptivityperiod;effectoffoliarapplicationonfruitset;variationsinfruitripeningduetoclimaticconditions

andpreandpostharvestapplicationofthegrowthregulatorEthrel(Ethephone);studieson

improvement of yield and fruit quality of date palm through pollen grain source a fruit

thinningandpreharvestapplicationofEthrel;effectofmulchingwithprunedleavesofdate

palmonirrigationwateravailability

2.

Crop

protection

and

IPM

aims

to

study

the

efficacy

of

different

pesticides

against

Lesser

DateMothandtosurveypestsnaturalenemies

3. Postharvesthandlingandprocessingtechniquesfocusontheproductionofcitricacidfromdates

4. Biotechnology seeks to develop genomic tools forgermplasm characterizationand assesstheabnormalitiesfoundintissueculturederiveddatepalms.

OverviewofResearchProgram

A6.A: Propagationandcropmanagement

Thiscategoryoftheresearchareaaimstoassessandadoptbestagromanagementpractices

for the date palm productivity, especially in the areas of tree propagation, irrigation,

fertilization, head management (male selection, pollination, dethroning, fruiting, thinning,

packaging, etc.) and mechanization of tree services with the aim to achieve the following

objectives:

1. Improvingdatepalmproductivityperunitofwaterandrationalizingtheuseoftheavailablewaterresourcestoensuresustainability

2. Determiningwaterandnutritional requirements fordifferent irrigationsystems,cultivars,environmentalconditions,soil types,qualities of irrigationwater (salineandsewage)and

withdifferentfertilizers

3. Improving date palm head practices and management for more productive trees withhigheryieldandbetterfruitqualityatharvest

4.

Developing

a

model

for

irrigation

and

fertilization

practices.

A6.B: CropprotectionandintegratedPestManagement(IPM)

This category aims to identify suitable method(s) to protect date palm trees from pests and

diseasesintheselectedregionsof(GCC)countriesinvolved.Theobjectivesare:


20/43

A6.C: Postharvesthandlingandprocessingtechniques

Inordertoimprovethemarketingprocessingeneralandthequalityoffruitsinparticular,this

categoryhasthefollowingobjectives:

1. To identify suitable postharvest handling and processing techniques such as handlingmethods, packaging materials, storage conditions, transportation etc., as well as the

processingmethodsofdatefruits

2. Improve proper postharvest handling and processing techniques such as handling,packaging,storage,transportationetc.

3. Developnewprocessingtechniquesforvalueaddeddateproductsandbyproducts.A6.D: Biotechnologyandgermplasmconservation

ThiscategoryaimstoestablishDNAfingerprintsoflocaldatepalmcultivarsandgenomictools

for germplasm characterization, and also to assess the existing level of genetic variability

amongthegermplasmresourceof(GCC)countriesinvolved.Theobjectivesare:

1. Toidentify,classifyandDNAfingerprintlocaldatepalmvarieties2. Developgenomictoolsforgermplasmcharacterization3.

Assess

genetic

diversity

among

date

palm

cultivars

4. Assessabnormalitiesfoundinthetissueculturederivedfromdatepalms


21/43

21

Annex4

ResearchActivitiescarriedoutamong(GCC)Countriesduringyear20072010

1. KingdomofBahrainResearchArea Activitiesundertaken

1. Cropmanagement1.Theeffectofchemicalandorganicfertilizerondatepalmgrowthandproduction

2.TheeffectofliquidpollinationondatesqualityandquantityintheKingdomofBahrain

2.Integratedpestmanagement FaunalsurveyofinsectsandmitesassociatedwithdatepalminKingdomofBahrain

3.Postharvesttechniques None

4. Biotechnology Development ofgenomictoolsforgermplasmcharacterizationandgeneticdiversityindatepalm

2. KingdomofSaudiArabia1.CropManagement

1.SelectionandevaluationofthemaledatepalmsusedforpollinationinAlAhssaoasis

2.Studyoftheeffectsofpreharvestholdingofirrigation waterondatepalmKhalasCV.fruitcracking

2.IntegratedPestManagement

1.Conductsurveyandassesstheinfestation levelbydustmitesinAlHasa

2.Evaluation oftheeffectofthreepesticidesonthedustmiteinfestation

3.Survey

of

lesser

date

moth

3.Postharvesttechniques SurveystudyofontheexistingdatespackagingcontainersinSaudiArabiaandtheiracceptance bytheconsumer

4.Biotechnology DNAextractionandfingerprinting of5selecteddatepalmcultivars

3. StateofKuwait1.CropManagement Irrigation:

1.Effectofthreeirrigationsystems(dripsystem bubblersystem floodssystem)ongrowth,yieldandfruitqualityofBarheevarietyusingtreatedsewage

water

2.Effectofblackplasticmulchingonweedcontrol,growthandyieldofBarheevarietyusingdripirrigation system

3.Effectofirrigationschedulesandkindofmulchingondatepalm(PhoenixdactyliferaL.)growth,productionandfruitqualityunderwaterscaresconditions

inAlShuhadaareaofKuwait

Fertilization:

1. Effectofthreekindsoffertilizerswiththreedifferentquantities ongrowth,yieldandfruitqualityofBarheevarietyusingdripirrigation2. Effectofmonthlyapplications offertilizersNPK(18:18:18)onthegrowth,yieldandqualityofBarheevarietyusingdripirrigation3. Effectoffoliarapplicationofmicroelementsongrowth,yieldandqualityofBarheevarietyusingdripirrigation

2.IntegratedPestManagement Surveyofpestsanddiseasesofdatepalm

3.Postharvesttechniques Effectofharvestingstage,packagingtechniquesandstorageonthereductionofpostharvestlosses

4.Biotechnology Assessmentofgeneticdiversityindatepalm


22/43


23/43

Annex5

Meetings

Projectmonitoring

Committee

Meetings

Technical Coordinationand Steering CommitteeMeetings (TC and SC meetings) were conducted

regularly to monitor the progress of the project, to share the results and to make sure that the

activitiesundertakenarewithin thescopeoftheresearchstrategyadoptedby the (NARS)of the

participatingcountriesandeventuallyadoptanynecessarymeasures.Fromtheyear2005till2010,

sixsuchmeetingswereheldasfollows:

1. FirstmeetingsheldinAleppo,SyriainMay1819,20052. SecondmeetingsheldinMuscat,OmaninMarch2728,20063. ThirdmeetingsheldinMuscat,OmaninMarch1819,20074. FourthmeetingsheldinMuscat,OmaninMay1114,20085. Fifth meetingsheldinManama,BahraininJanuary1012,20106. SixthmeetingsheldinMuscatinFebruary68,2011.

Postharvestmeetingreport

RasAlKhaima,UAE,March2009

A.Participants

B.Program

C.Introduction

Allparticipants

expressed

their

full

satisfaction

with

the

meeting

which

gave

them

the

opportunity

toassesstheprogressachievedsofaronthisthemeineachcountry,sharetheresultsandexchange

theirexperiencesandotherrelatedinformation.Theywerealsopleasedwiththefactthattherewas

noworkduplicationamongtheconcernedNARS.

D.Presentations

UAE

1. Comparisonbetweenusingsolarenergyfordryingdatesunderandplastichousesandthe

automaticdrying

chamber

(with

controlled

temperature

and

relative

humidity).

2. Identification of thebestharvestingstage for improveddryingand marketingofBarhee,

KhalasandLuludatepalmcultivars.

3. Evaluation of the total cost, running cost and production capacity of the tested drying

methods.


24/43

Futureactivities

Futureresearchwillfocusontheeffectofsolardryinginglasshousesonpestinfestationandquality

ofthedrieddates.

QATAR

Workplan

Theeffectofthreedifferentsolardryingtechniquesonscalingofdates(flakiness).

Resultsobtainedsofar

The work consisted of comparing direct sun drying with drying under plastic tunnels and locally

designed

plastic

chambers

with

internal

shelves,

to

be

used

at

the

growers

level.

The

effectiveness

ofthesechambers inshortingthedryingperiod(5daysonlyagainst12daysunderplastictunnels

and 1418 days fordirectsundrying)and reducing scalingwas demonstrated.Furthermore,dried

datesfromthechamberweremuchcleaner.

Futureactivities

Future work will concentrate on improving these chambers and studying the quality of the dried

fruits.

SULTANATEOFOMAN

Workplan

Productionofcitricacidfromdates


The main objectives of this work can be regarded as achieved. It was shown that the use of the

submergedtechniquegavebetterresultswhencomparedtothesurfacetechnique inreducingthe

fermentation period. Moreover, the researchers could identify citric acid successfully by applying

housedevelopedanalyticalmethod. However,delays inachievingtheseresultswereexperienced

duetothebreakdownofsomeequipmentandthelongtimerequiredfixingit.

Futureactivities

Forthcomingworkwillconcentrateon theeffectof thedatepalmgenotypeontheproductionof

citricacidaswellasontheattempttoproduceothervalueaddedproducts.

KUWAIT

Workplan

Theeffectofharvestingstage,packagingandstoragetechniquesonthereductionofpostharvest

losses.


25/43

SAUDIARABIA

Workplan

SurveystudyontheexistingdatespackagingcontainersinSaudiArabiaandtheiracceptancebythe

consumer.


Appreciable progress has been made in terms of the existing dates packaging containers, their

labelingandthedegreeoftheiracceptancebytheconsumer.

Futureactivities

Future work will focus on the effect of packaging containers on the dates quality and on dates

microbialcontaminationsandinfestation.

Recommendations

Thedatepalmspecialistandprojectcoordinatoremphasizedtheneedfor:

1. Improvedslidequalityenablingeasyreading2. TheuseofEnglishlanguageforallwrittendocumentstoreachamuchlargeraudienceand

enablenonArabicspeakerstounderstandthepresentations.AsdecidedbytheSteering

Committee,the

oral

presentation

can

be

either

in

Arabic

or

English

3. Statisticalanalysisofthedatashouldbeprovidedwheneverapplicable.Inconclusion,alltheparticipantsagreedthat:

1. More efforts should be dedicated to the improvement of the dates to meet theinternationalexportstandardsparticularlyinindustrialcountries.

2. Seekalternativesforoptimaluseofthelowqualitydatesthroughtheproductionofvalueaddedproductsandbyproducts.

3. Usehighqualitydatessurplusfortheproductionofbabyfoodandhealthyfoodstuff.4. Increased capacity building of the participating NARS through workshops, symposia,

conferences,visits,andshorttermtraininginmoreadvancedlaboratories.

CropManagementMeetingReport

Kuwait,April,2009

A.Objectivesofthemeeting

1. Presenttheapprovedcropmanagementworkplanforeachcountry.


26/43

SultanateofOman

a.ApprovedcropmanagementWorkplan

a.1.Studies

on

the

low

fruit

set

in

Zabad

Cultivar.

a.1.1.Effectofpollengrainssource.

a.1.2.Studiesonthefemalereceptivityperiod.

a.1.3.EffectofBoronfoliarapplicationonfruitset.

a.2.StudiesonthevariationofripeningdatesofNighaldatepalmcultivar.

a.2.1.Studiesontheclimaticconditions.

a.2.2.EffectofPreorPostharvestApplicationsofEthrel(Ethephone)

a.3. StudiesontheImprovementofYieldandFruitQualityofKhalascv.

a.3.1.Effectofpollengrainssource.

a.3.2.EffectofFruitThinning.

a.3.3.EffectofpreharvestapplicationofEthrel.

a.4.Effectofmulchingwith pruned datepalm leaveson irrigationwateravailability and

datepalmgrowth,yieldandfruitquality.

b.Obtainedresults

a.1.StudiesonthelowfruitsetinZabadCultivar.

a.1.1.Theresultsshowednoeffectofthedifferentpollengrainsourcesonfruitset.

Sincethemetaxenialeffectsarewellestablished,theseresultsmightbedueto

thefactthatthemalesusedwerefromthesameareaandmightbegenetically

veryclosetothefemaletrees.Theuseofmalesfromotherregionsorcountries

aswellastheuseofpollengrainfromotherphoenixspecies(sylvestris)might

bebeneficialforfuturework.

a.1.2.Studyonthereceptivityperiodofthefemaleflowers:Theworkwascarriedout

in1997by

Dr.

Issam

and

the

results

have

been

published.

a.1.3.Thestudyshowednoeffectofthreeboraxconcentrationsonfruitsetandfruit

qualityoftheZabadcultivar.

a.2.StudiesonthevariationofripeningdatesofNighaldatepalmcultivar.

a.2.1.Studies on the climatic conditions: The experiment could not be carried out

becauseweatherstationswerenotestablishedinthelocationsofthestudy.

a.2.2.Effect of Pre orpostharvestApplications of Ethrel (Ethephone): The results

showed

no

effect

of

the

three

concentrations

of

ethephone

on

the

fruit

ripening, shrinkinganddroppingbothforpreandpostharvestapplications.

a.3.StudiesontheImprovementofYieldandFruitQualityofKhalascv.

a.3.1.Effectofpollengrainssource:Significantdifferenceswerefoundbetweenthe2

locations:ThepollinationefficiencywasbetterintheInteriordryerregionthan

in the more humid Albatinah costal area However no significant differences


27/43

showed a significant effect of ethephone on fruit ripening without any

shrinkageordrop.Noresultsconcerningtheyieldwerepresented.

a.4.Effectofmulchingonirrigationwateravailabilityanddatepalmgrowth,yieldandfruit

quality.

The

effects

of

mulching

with

pruned

leaves

and

plastic

were

compared.

However,becauseofthefailureofsomeequipment,theexperimentwasdelayed.

a.5.CharacterizationofDatepalmcultivarsGCCAtlas(Khalas,Fard,Khasab,Naghaland

Zabad). The tree, leaves, flowering, fruit, and seed characteristics will be used to

characterizethesefivecultivars.

c.Futureactivities

c.1.Selectionofbestmalesforpollination. Theworkwillbepursuedusingpalmmalesfrom

other

regions

or

countries

as

well

as

the

pollen

grain

from

other

phoenix

species

(sylvestris).

c.2.Pursuetheworkonmulching.

c.3.CharacterizationofthefiveselectedOmanidatepalmcultivars.


a.Approvedworkplana.1.SelectionandevaluationofthemaledatepalmsusedforpollinationinAlAhssaoasis.

a.2.Study of the effects of preharvest holding of irrigation on date palm Khalas variety.

fruitcracking.

b.Obtainedresultsa.1.SelectionandevaluationofthemaledatepalmsusedforpollinationinAlAhssaoasis.

Thepreliminaryresultsclearlyshowtheeffectofthemalesonfruitlengthandweight.

However,

the

presentation

did

not

contain

any

statistical

analysis

as

well

as

the

conclusionsummarizingthemainfindings.Theseissuesshouldbeincludedinthefinal

reporttostrengthentheresearch.

a.2.StudyofwaterdeficitondatepalmKhalasvarietyfruitcracking

Takingintoconsiderationthecommentsmadeduringthe4thTechnicalCommitteeand

SteeringCommitteemeetingsthecolleagues,rightlychangedtheexperimentaldesign.

Thus, insteadofwithholding irrigationjustbeforeharvest,theyappliedspecificwater

quantities throughout the year (100%, 50%, 33%, and 25% of commonly used

quantities).

Again,

the

presentation

did

not

show

any

statistical

analysis

and

conclusions.Theresultsclearlyindicatedthatthewaterdeficitdidnothaveanyeffect

onfruitcracking.TheseresultsareinagreementwiththoseobtainedintheUSAwhere

datecrackingseemtoberelatedtosoiltypeand/orfertility.

c.Activitiesfor200920101 S l i f h l lli b f h hi h d l l il bl i


28/43

from the use of botanically related males to the females used in the experiment. If

thesecommentsaretakenintoconsideration,greatandusefulresultscanbeexpected

fromthisresearch.

2.Fruit

cracking:

Based

on

the

obtained

results

in

the

Kingdom

of

Saudi

Arabia

and

the

USA,thestudyshouldberedesignedtoaddresstheeffectofsoiltexture,fertilityand

fertilizersondatescracking.

StateofQatar

a.ApprovedCropmanagementworkplan

1.

The

effect

of

fruit

thinning

on

the

fruit

quality

of

Khalas

variety.

2. Responseofdatepalmtoirrigationwithtreatedsewagewater.

b.Obtainedresults

b.1.The effect of fruit thinning on the fruit quality of Khalas variety. Fruit thinning

improved both the yield and other fruit characteristics. The work was extended to

includeBarheebutnoresultswereobtainedyetwiththisvariety.

b.2.Response of date palm to irrigation with treated sewage water: The work was

postponeduntiltheworkontheconnectiontothewatersourceandtheinstallationof

theirrigation

system

is

over

(Trial

expected

to

start

in

September

2009).

c.Activitiesfor20092010

c.1.Fruitthinning

The present experiment will be repeated for another year and statistical analysis

carriedout.Theworkwillbeextendedtoincludeothervarieties.Growthregulators

willalsobetestedasthinningagent.

KingdomofBahrain

a.ApprovedCropmanagementworkplan

a.1.Theeffectofchemicalandorganicfertilizerondatepalmgrowthandproductioninthe

KingdomofBahrain.

a.2.TheeffectofliquidpollinationondatesqualityandquantityintheKingdomofBahrain.

b.Obtainedresults

b.1.Theeffect

of

chemical

and

organic

fertilizer

on

date

palm

growth

and

production

in

the

Kingdom of Bahrain. No significant statistical differences were found between the

treatments. However, thismightbe due tothewayorganic fertilizerwasapplied (in

holeswithoutmixingwithsoil)

b.2.The effect of liquid pollination on dates' quality and quantity in the Kingdom of

Bahrain No significant statistical differences were observed between traditional hand


29/43


c.1.Liquidpollination

1.Repeat the experiment to confirm the results and extend the work to othervarieties.

2.Fruitchemicalanalysiscarriedoutprovidedthenecessaryequipmentispurchased.3.Testtheefficacyofothersprayingequipment.4.Includeboroninthesolutiontoenhancepollengermination.5.Carrythesameexperimentinfarmersorchards.

c.2.Fertilization.

Repeat the same experiment with organic fertilizers mixed to soil before the pre

irrigationand

spread

all

around

the

trees.

c.3.Characterizationofthefiveselectedcultivars.

StateoftheUnitedArabEmirates

a.ApprovedCropmanagementworkplan:Assessmentofdatepalmwaterrequirementsusing

differentirrigationsystems

b.

Obtained

results.

b.1.Assessmentofdatepalmwaterrequirementsusingdifferentirrigationsystems.

The presentation was prepared by Eng. Mohamed Rashid AlNaqbi, who is not a

member of the research team and who had just come back from Australia. The

objectiveoftheresearchwasnotclear:If,asthetitleindicates,themainobjectiveisto

assess the water requirements of the date palm under different irrigation systems,

thenadulttrees(12yearsoldandabove)shouldhavebeenusedinsteadofthreeyear

old trees. If, as the presenter claimed, the objective is to determine the water

requirements

of

the

date

palm

at

different

stages

of

their

development,

the

experimentaldesignshouldbechangedtoincludetrees1,2,3,..,12yearsofage.The

issuecouldnotbeclarifiedbythespeakerwhowasaskedtocheckwiththeresearch

teamandsubmitanewreport.Furthermorenoclearresponsewasprovidedastohow

theappliedwateramountin200607,200708and200809wasobtainedandnoclear

datawasshown.

b.2.EconomicReturnandEnvironmentaleffectoforganicfarmingondatepalmtrees.

1.Although the experiment started in November 2007, it was not included in thesubmittedworkplanfortheUAE.

2.Thetitle ismisleading: In fact,noeconomicstudieswerecarriedouttoestablishtheeconomicalreturn,noorganicfarmingwasdoneandnoenvironmentaleffects

wereassessed.Itisaverysimplefertilizationexperiment.

3 h i i l d i d h d l l f i d i


30/43


c.1.Assessmentofdatepalmwaterrequirementsusingdifferentirrigationsystems.Repeat

theexperimenttakingintoconsiderationtheabovementionedremarks.

c.2.Fertilization:Theexperimentshouldberedesignediftobepursued.

StateofKuwait

a.ApprovedCropmanagementworkplana.1.Irrigation

a.1.1.Effectof

irrigation

schedules

and

kind

of

mulching

on

date

palm

(phoenix

dactylifera L.) growth, production and fruit quality under water scares

conditionsinAlShuhadaareaofKuwait

a.1.2.Effectofthreeirrigationsystems(dripsystembubblersystemfloodssystem)

ongrowth,yieldandfruitqualityofBarheevarietyusingtreatedsewagewater

a.1.3.Effectofblackplasticmulchingonweed control,growthand yieldofBarhee

varietyusingdripirrigationsystem.

a.2.Fertilization

a.2.1.Effect of three kinds of fertilizers, with three different quantities on growth,

yieldandfruitqualityofBarheevarietyusingdripirrigation

a.2.2.EffectofmonthlyapplicationoffertilizersNPK(18:18:18)onthegrowth,yield

andqualityofBarheevarietyusingdripirrigation

a.2.3.Effect of foliar application of microelements on growth, yield and quality of

Barheevarietyusingdripirrigation

b.Obtained

results

The combined effect of levels and source of chemical fertilizers on theproductivityofdatepalm.

1 Studying theeffectofdifferent levelsof fertilizeron thegrowthandyieldofdatepalm.

2 Studyingtheeffectofsourceofchemicalfertilizersontheproductivityofdate

palm.

Effectofirrigationschedulesandmulchingongrowthandfruityieldofdatepalm.1 To find out the effect of irrigation schedules on the growth fruit yield and

qualityofdatepalm.

2 To evaluate the influence ofwater conservation technique that is the use of


31/43

Comments:

1. Nodatawaspresentedforthefertilizationexperiments.2. Noconclusionwaspresented.3. Nostatisticalanalysisfortheirrigationexperiments.4. Aretheresultsshowninthetableinslide19forirrigationorfertilization?5. Thetitleforthetableinslide24ismissing.

c.Activitiesfor2009.2010

1. Pursuetheexperimentsabovetakingintoconsiderationtheabovecomments.2. Starttheotherexperimentsincludedinthesubmittedworkplan.3. Undertake experiment on heavy metals that might come from the treated sewage

water.

E.Concludingcomments

Take into consideration the comments made by the participants in submitting finalreport.

Alltheparticipantsunderlinedtheimportanceofthemeetinganditsbenefits. Thedatepalmknowledgebankprojectwasdebatedandalltheparticipantsexpressed

itsimportance.

There is a need to improve the quality of the presentations and in using Englishlanguage.

Thedatepalmspecialistsuggestedthatinthefuturetheresearchshouldconcentrateonnewtrendssuchas:

1. Mechanicalpollinationusingliquidsolution.2. Chemicalthinning.3. Higherplantingdensities.4. Foliarapplicationoffertilizers.5. Organicfarming.6. Processingofdatesfortheproductionofhighvalueproducts.7. Growdatesfornewpurposessuchasproductionofantioxidants.

IPMMeetingReport

Manama,KingdomofBahrain,March2009


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UAE

Theme: StudytheefficacyofdifferentpesticidesonDustmiteinfestation.

Major

results:

Among

the

tested

pesticides,

the

most

effective

ones

against

the

Dust

mites

wereidentified.

FutureActivity: Theexperimentwillberepeatedanotherseasonforconfirmationofthe

resultsandtestfivenewpesticides.

KSA

Theme1: ConductsurveyandassesstheinfestationlevelbydustmitesinAlHasa

Majorresults:

Two

dust

mite

species

were

found:

Oligonychus

afrasiatcus

Mcg

and

Tetranychussp.

FutureActivity: Continuesurveyforanotheryearanddeterminewhichofthetwodustmite

speciesispredominant.

Theme2: Evaluationoftheeffectofthreepesticidesonthedustmiteinfestation.

Results: Uptonow,noconcreteresultswereobtained.

Activitiesfor20092010:TheexpertssuggestedtheuseofRCBDwithfourreplicationsinstead

of

three

planned

by

the

investigators.

Theme3: SurveyofLesserDateMoth.

Majorresults:

1. Alltheinsectslifecyclestageswerestudiedinthelaboratory.2. Thedegreeoffieldinfestationvariedbetweenregionsfrom5to90%.3. Trapstogetnaturalenemieswereinstalledinthefield.4. Observationsonsomenaturalenemiesweremade,buttheestimationofthedegreeof

parasitismneedstobecarriedout.

5. It isworthmentioningthata localnaturalenemyofthedatepalmborerwasrecordedforthefirsttimeandidentifiedbytheBritishMuseumofNaturalHistory.

Activitiesfor20092010:

1. Useoflighttrapstoassesstheimportanceanddistributionoftheinsectanddeterminethenumberofitsgenerations.

2. Localizethesitesoftheinsectdormancy(?).3. Assesstheefficacyof2biologicalagentsforthecontroloftheinsect.4. Searchforthenaturalenemiesoftheinsectwheneverpresent.

Kuwait

Theme: Survey of pests and diseases of date palm.


33/43

Qatar

Uptonow,theStateofQatardidnotcarryoutanyexperimenton IPM.Theywillstarttheir

activitiesinthisfieldin2010andtheyareplanningtoundertakethefollowing:

Theme1:

Survey

study

for

the

identification

of

the

major

pests

and

diseases

in

Qatar

andtheirnaturalenemies.

Theme2: Ecologicalstudiesofmajorpests.

Theme3: DevelopmentofDataBaseforpestsanddiseasesinQatar.

Oman

Theme

1:

Efficacy

of

different

pesticides

against

lesser

date

moth.

Majorresults: Five environment friendly insecticides have been evaluated for second

season to confirm their efficacy against lesser date moth

(Batrachedraamydraula Meyrick). The results obtained in 2008 indicated

thatatleastthreepesticidesshowedagoodlevelofefficacy.However,due

to thelatestageinfestationatthetimeoftrial,theseresultswerenotin

agreementwiththose obtainedin2007.

FutureActivity: Thisexperimentwillbe repeatedanotherseasonbutatanearlierstageof

infestationto

confirmation

the

results

Theme2: Surveyofnaturalenemies.

Majorresults: Fourparasitoidandthreepredatorspeciesfound.

FutureActivities:

1. ContinuethesurveyofnaturalenemiesofB.amydraulad.2. EvaluatingtheefficiencyofGoniozussp.incontrollingthepest.3. SusceptibilityofdifferentvarietiesofdatepalmtotheB.amydrauladinfestation.4. StudythepossibilityofmassrearingtheLDMlarvalparasitoidanditsfieldrelease.5. IdentificationofsexpheromonefortheLDM.

Bahrain

Theme: FaunalSurveyofInsectsandMitesAssociatedwithDatePalminKingdomof

Bahrain.

Majorresults:

1. 184speciesrepresentingnineorderswerecollectedusinglighttraps.2. 74speciesrepresentingnineordersusingwerecollectedinPitfallTraps.3. Severalnaturalenemies(predators,entomopathogenicfungi)ofthedatepalmpests

havebeenfound.

Future Activities


34/43

Itisworthmentioningthattheparticipantsvisitedthelaboratorythatwasequippedbytheprojects

fundsandwereverypleasedwiththegreatjobcarriedout inBahrainunderthe leadershipofDr.

AbdulAzizAbdulKareem.

BiotechnologyMeetingReport

Rumais,SultanateofOman,2009

A.Agendaofthemeeting:

B.Participants:

C.Objectivesofthemeeting

1. Topresenttheapprovedbiotechnologyworkplanforeachcountry.

2. Tosharetheundertakenexperimentsandtheresultsobtainedsofar.

3. Todiscusstheplannedactivitiesfor20092010.

D.Countryreports

The

major

activities

which

were

approved

were

to

fingerprint

all

the

major

date

palm

varieties

in

the

Gulfcountriesandtoassesstheamountofvariationbetweenandwithinvarieties.OmanandQatar

are the lead countries for biotechnology with an annual budget of US$ 40,000.00 each while the

othercountriesreceiveUS$17,000.00annually.

SinceonlyOmanhadafunctionallaboratory,itwasagreedthatthecountrieswouldextracttheDNA

of their selected five date palm varieties and sent it to Oman for analysis. The countries would

meanwhileworktodeveloptheirownfacilities.


a. Approvedworkplan:DNAextractionandfingerprintingoffiveselecteddatepalmcultivars.

b. Presentation and obtained results by Eng.Hussain Buawais: Fingerprinting of 25 date

palm cultivars in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia including the study of the Intravarietal

variationinvegetativelypropagateddatepalmanddocumentingthegeneticresourcesof

date palm cultivars in an Atlas. The main objectives were to test the different DNA

extractionprotocols

including

the

use

of

BioRobot

in

Saudi

Arabia

and

send

the

samples

to

Oman for analysis. Samples include the main cultivars grown in different regions of the

Kingdom.TheextractedDNAwassenttoOmanforanalysisandiswaitingfortheresults.

The speaker also presented the list of equipment purchased by the date palm project

fundssuchastheQIAcelsystemforDNAanalysis.Thisisagelelectrophoresissystemthat

h l b f l h f h l d


35/43

KingdomofBahrain

a. Approvedworkplan: Development of genomic tools for germplasm characterization and

geneticdiversityindatepalmwiththemainobjectivesbeing:

1. CharacterizationofthedatepalmcultivarsinthekingdomofBahrain.2. Identification and documentation of the genetic differences between Bahraini

cultivarsusingmolecularanalysis.

3. Studyingthegeneticdiversitybetweenandwithincultivars.4. Documentation of the germplasm characterization and its genetic diversity in the

ATLASfortheGCCdatepalmcultivars.

b.

Presentation

and

progress

by

Eng.

Amani

Abu

Edrees.

DNA was extracted from five Bahraini cultivars from 10 different regions using and

comparingDNeasyPlantMaxiKit(Qiagen)andCTABDNAExtractionMethods.TheCTAB

procedure provided better results. The samples were sent to Oman but no results were

received.

c.Plannedactivitiesfor20092010:

1. DNAextraction from fivenewcultivarswith10replicationswillbedoneusingtheCTABProtocolandsenttoOmanforanalysis.

2. Whiletechnicalexpertise,athermocyclerandaverticalelectrophoresissystemareavailable intheUniversityofBahrain, inthe longrunviable laboratoriesshouldbe

establishedwithintheMinistryofMunicipalitiesandAgriculturalAffairs.Sinceonly

about US$ 4000 were spent from the biannual budget of US$ 34.000. These

allocated funds should be spent to supply the laboratory with the essential

equipmentsrequiredforinvitrocultureandmolecularexperimentalstudies.

The speaker also raised thecommunication problemswithboth theNationalcoordinatorand the

technicalCoordinator.

StateofKuwait

a. Submittedworkplan:

1.InvitropropagationofelitedatepalmvarietieslikeBarhee.2.Assessmentofgeneticdiversityindatepalm.

b. PresentationbyEng.ShaimaaAlKhabbaz: Documentation of genetic resources of date

palminanatlas.DNAsamplesoffourcultivarsfrom10differentlocationswereextracted

usingMaxikitsfromQiagenandsenttoOman.TheDNAextractionwascarriedoutatKISR.

However, the quality of DNA was bad and the extraction had to be redone in Oman.

Kuwait is still waiting to receive the results from Oman


36/43

3.Establish a well equipped laboratory with all the necessary equipments forbiotechnology.

StateofUnitedArabEmirates

a. Approvedworkplan:Noactivitieswereplannedinbiotechnologybecausetheirlaboratory

was being used by AlRajhi Company from Saudi Arabia following the agreement signed

betweentheMinistryofEnvironmentandWateroftheUAEandthecompanytotransfer

theorganogenesistechniquefortheproductionofdatepalmvitroplants.

b. Activitiesundertaken:DNAwasextractedfrom fiveEmiratiscultivarsandsenttoOman.

However,

the

quality

was

bad

and

the

scientists

from

UAE

and

Oman

agreed

that

the

DNA

willbereextractedinOman.

c. Plansfor20092010:NewattempttoextracttheDNAinOmanwillbedone.

StateofQatar

a. SubmittedplanforGermplasmconservation:Formationofaworkinggroupwiththe

purposeofacquiringtherequiredinformationfortheproductionofDATEPALMATLAS.

b.Achievements:

It

was

not

clear

what

has

been

achieved

in

Qatar.

They

are

still

developing

theirownbiotechnologycenterandarewaitingtohavefunctionalfacilities. Dr.Khaled

MabroukpresentedapublicationbyDr.Talaatstudyingthediversityof15Qatardatepalm

cultivarswithmicrosatelliteprimers.

c. Futureplans:Ifthelaboratorieswillbecomefunctionalinthenext34months(equipment

hasbeenordered)DNAwillbeextractedandeithersenttoOmanorprocessedinhouse.

However,theneedtoclarifytheamountoftheavailablefundswiththenational

coordinatorandtoclearlyassignresponsibilities,wereemphasized.

SultanateofOman

a.Approvedworkplan

Developmentofgenomictoolsforgermplasmcharacterizationindatepalmwiththe

objectivesof:

1. TestingandevaluatingthebestAFLPandmicro satelliteprimercombinationsfor

cultivars

fingerprinting

(Oman).

2. UsingAFLP fingerprintingtechniqueandtheexistingmicro satellitemarkersonfiveGCCcultivars.

3. Startmappingoridentifyingmolecularmarkerslinkedtotraitsofinterest(sexidentification).


37/43

b. PresentationbyDr. IshaqAlRuqaishi:UsetheBestMicrosatellitePrimerCombinationsonGCCDatePalmCultivars forFingerprintingusing theDNA samples fromOmanand

theotherwiththemainobjectivesbeing:

1. Developmentofgenomictoolsforgermplasmcharacterizationindatepalm.2. Assessmentofgeneticdiversityindatepalm.

DNA has been extracted (with DNeasy kit from Qiagen) from five varieties (with 10 replications).

From33availableprimers fordatepalm,20hadbeentestedonOmanicultivarsandanalyzedon

CEQ8000geneticanalyzer(BeckmanCoulter).Datageneratedonthesequencerhasbeenanalyses

withNTSYSprogram.DatawaspresentedonusingfourSSRprimersondatepalmDNAfromseveral

different countries (Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain). Clustering analysis has shown that major

varieties

such

as

Khalas

from

Oman,

Saudi

Arabia

and

Bahrain,

cluster

together,

even

though

substantialvariationwithinthevarietywasrevealed.

Theachievementsmadesofarweresummarizedasfollows:

1. SSR primer combinations were testedand evaluated for fingerprintingofdatepalmcultivars(Oman,SaudiArabia,BahrainandKuwait).

2. Out of 33 primers were selected, 20 were tested for further analysis based on theintensityofthebands.

3. Allelic size of each microsatellite primer combination of date palm cultivars wereobservedandrecordedaspresent(1)orabsent(0).

c.FutureActivities:

1. ReceiveremainingDNAsamplesfromGCCcountriesandanalyzeusing30SSRprimers.2. ScoringtheamplificationproductsonCEQ8000DNAanalyzer.3. Datacollection.4. Dataanalysis.

Someinconsistencies

need

to

be

clarified:

In

the

presentation,

the

DNA

samples

from

the

UAE

were

includedintheanalysiswhileinthemeetingitwasclearlysaidthatsuchsampleswerenotgoodand

itwasagreedthattheextractionwillbedoneinOmaninthenearfuture.

Somemajordifficultieshavearisenregardingthecostoftheanalysis.Omanhassuggestedthateach

of the other countries should contribute US$14.212.00 to cover the cost of the primers and PCR

analysis for the 50 samples with 30 SSRs, while they would cover the cost of the analysis on the

sequencer in the amount of US$ 3.986.00. The countries could buy their own consumables and

bring

them

to

Oman

while

they

also

would

help

to

do

the

analysis.

Some

of

the

countries

have

objectedtothis.IftheyweretopayUS$14.212.00forthechemicals,notmuchwillbe leftforthe

establishmentofthebiotechnologyfacilitiesintheirowncountries.

ICARDAobservations: the laboratory inRumais, Omanhas established the infrastructure forDNA

analysis However scientists seem to rely heavily on kits for all steps in order to standardize the


38/43

thecountrieswanttodotheirownanalysisandthis isnotcorrectsince itwasdecidedthatallthe

analysiswillbecarriedoutinOmanwherethepurchasedsequencerhasbeeninstalled.

ICARDA recommendations: the laboratory in Rumais can optimize some operations to reduce

overallcostwithoutcompromisingthequalitythrough:

a.Testing all the 33 primers (unlabeled) on six diverse date palm varieties. Based on theresults it should be possible to identify sets of three primers that could be analyzed

together.Theidealsituationwouldbetohave10setsofthreeprimers.Theseprimerscould

then be ordered and labeled. By combining and analyzing the three SSRs together, the

runningcostwillbereducedsubstantially(upto60%).

b.Checkingwhetherornottheprimerscouldbemultiplexed.Thismightnotwork forall10poolsbutformostofthem.Thiswillrequiretimeandexpertiseforoptimization.Ifall10sets

of three primers could be multiplexed it would again reduce the cost for PCR analysis

substantially(upto60%).

c.Thepotentialoftheautomaticsequencerforcombinedrunsandanalysishasnotbeenfullyutilized. While it is possible with todays software to analyze sequenceroutputs for allele

sizes(inbp),currentresultsarebeingconvertedtobinarydata(10)withsubstantialamount

ofinformationlostforthedataanalysisintheconversionprocess.

d.The suggested amount of labeled primer used should be checked in the laboratory forpossiblereductiontosavecost.InourlaboratoryatICARDA,labeledprimersarediluted10

timestheamountsuggestedbythesupplier.Thiswaywecanperformabout2000reactions

withonelabeledprimer.

FifthTechnical

Coordination

and

Steering

Committee

Meetings'

Report

Bahrain,January,2010

Problemsolvingresearch

Theleadingroleforeachthematicareaofproblemsolvingresearchwasidentifiedamongsix(GCC)

countries

and

the

first

project

report

was

submitted

during

the

fifth

Technical

Coordination

and

Steering Committee Meetings of the Project on the Development of Sustainable Date Palm

Production Systems in the (GCC) Countries of the Arabian Peninsula meetings held at Bahrain in

January1012,2010.

L di i i bl l i R h M j Th


39/43


40/43

40

9.EffectofPostharvestapplicationofEthrelon

Nighal

dates

ripening

and

quality

OmanSignificanteffectsofethephonetreatmentsonlyin

respectto

fruit

ripening

Tobecontinued

Resultscanbetransferredand

verifiedatfarmlevelbothin

Omanand

other

(GCC)

countries.

10. Effectofsourceofpollengrainsonfruitset,ripeningtimeandfruitqualityof

KhlasCV

OmanTheeffectofthesourceofpollengrainsonfruit

setbeingtestedatfarmlevelTobecontinued



other(GCC)countries

11. EffectoffruitthinningonthefruitqualityofKhalasCV

Qatar,OmanThinningtoimproveventilationprovedvery

effectiveandresultsarebeingtransferredTobecontinued



other(GCC)countries

12. Effectofthreeirrigationsystems(dripsystembubblersystemfloods

system)ongrowth,yieldandfruitquality

ofdate

palm

varieties

using

treated

sewagewater

Kuwait

UAE

Bubblersseemtobethebestirrigationsystemfor

the

date

palm

Tobecontinued



other(GCC)

countries

13. EconomicReturnandEnvironmentaleffectoforganicfarmingon

datepalmtrees

UAE Underinvestigation Tobecontinued

A4.B Crop Protection and Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

ActivitiesCarriedoutYear2010 Concernedcountries TaskAccomplished/MajorAchievementsWorkplan

Year2011 Comments

1. Efficacyofdifferentpesticidesagainstlesserdatemoth

Oman

1.Twopesticides

were

found

effective

in

reducing

fruitinfestation:Trebon20%ECandKingbo

0.6%SL

Tobecontinued

2. SurveyofnaturalenemiesforLDM Oman

SomenaturalenemiesforthecontrolofLDMwere

identifiedandtheirevaluationisunderway;

SurveyforadditionalnaturalenemiesofLDMis

alsobeingcarriedout

Tobecontinued

3. Surveyofpestsanddiseases,ecological

studiesandestablishmentofadatabaseQatar Noactivitycarriedout

1.Surveystudyforthe

identificationofthe

majorpestsand

diseasesin

Qatar

and

theirnaturalenemies.

2.Ecologicalstudiesof

majorpests.

3.Developmentof

Databaseforpestsand

diseasesinQatar


41/43

41

4. Surveyofmaininsectpestsanddiseasesaffectingdatepalm

Kuwait

KSA

1.Morethan305pestspeciesrepresenting22

generawereidentifiedinBahrain,Kuwaitand

KSA;Seventeen

predators

were

found

to

be

effectivecontrol againstmajorpestLDM

2.Twobiopesticideswerefoundeffectivein

controllinginfestationbyborersandmites

(KingboandAgri2000)

Tobecontinued

5.Surveyandassesstheinfestationlevelby

dustmiteinAlHassa. KSATwodustmitespecieswerefound:Oligonychus

afrasiatcusandTetranychussppTobecontinued

6.Evaluationoftheeffectofthreepesticides

onthe

dust

mite

infestation

KSA

OnebotanicalpesticideBaicaoNo.1(0.36%

Matrine)gave

agood

level

of

control

against

dust

mite;Thebiopesticide(Spinosad)gaveagoodlevel

ofcontrolagainstLDM.

Tobe

continued

7.FaunalSurveyofInsectsandMites

Associatedwithdatepalmusingpitfalltraps Bahrain

Fromlighttraps:184speciesrepresentingnine

orderswereidentifiedfromlighttraps;74species

representingnineorderswerefoundinpitfalltraps

1.Shippingspecimens'for

identification

2.Preparingdistribution

map formajordate

palmpests

3.Preparingprofilesof

majordatepalm pests

8.Evaluationofbiopesticidesforthecontrol

ofdustmiteUAE

Twobio

pesticides

were

found

effective

in

controllinginfestationbyborersandmitesand

theywillbetestedintheother(GCC)countries;

ThebiopesticideBaicaoNo.1(0.36%Matrine)gave

agoodlevelofcontrolagainstdustmites.

Testmorebiopesticides

forthecontrolofdust

mite


42/43


43/43

43

A4.D Biotechnology

Activities Carried out Year 2010 Concerned countries Task Accomplished/Major Achievements Workplan Year 2011 Comments

1.Development of genomic tools forgermplasm characterization and genetic

diversity in date palm

UAE,

KSA, KuwaitBahrain

Oman, Qatar

Finger printing of local date palm cultivars carried

out and their genetic diversity level established.Evaluation of newly developed SSR marker are

underway

UAE samples need to begenotyped, Qatar will

genotype their samples

with the same SSRs.

Genotyping will becompleted for five

samples per country with

replications. Training

will be provided for(GCC) scientist in the

Oman facilities

Should be continue

2.Development of infrastructure for genomicanalysis

UAE,KSA, Kuwait

Oman

Qatar

1. Facilities have been established and/or upgradedin Saudi Arabia and Qatar

2. Facilities for DNA extraction were established in

Kuwait, Bahrain and UAE

To be continued

3.Characterization of abnormalities related totissue-culture-derived palms Oman

12 samples derived from tissue culture from thecultivar KhalasADhahra and their mother were

analyzed with 20 SSR markers, 315 alleles were

detected but no variation found among in-vitro

plants

More samples from

(GCC) countries to be

analyzed

4. Publication of Genome sequence ofdate palm by Cornell/Qatar publication

QatarDeveloped 1000 SSR markers from the sequence

and these were published in 2010

To be continued by

utilizing the developed

markers in the genetic

mapping and geneticdiversity analysis of date

palm

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