AGRICULTURAL
Niche market
It ’ s a date
Cultivation of date palm tree
The cultivation of the date palm tree , most popular in the Middle East , is a niche market South African farmers should consider worth exploring .
� By Kefiloe Manthata Senwes Graduate
The highly nutritious , decadent fruit , famed for being a great source of energy and unrefined sugar , is very suitable for the South African dry climate conditions . Dates are the fruit of a desert palm tree .
There are 220 kinds of dates , but only about 20 of these are commercially viable . Medjool dates are especially popular in South Africa . These are the dates with the potential to be the most profitable . Medjool dates are large , soft , very sweet and more labour-intensive to grow and harvest . It is one of the few crops that grows in the desert .
Date palms have been described as the “ tree of life .” And the fruit is hailed as a “ complete fruit ” medically as it also contains protein , lipids , carbohydrates and is a high source of fibre .
So far , very few producers cultivate dates commercially in South Africa . Among them is Pieter Karstens of the Karstens Group , who farm dates on a scenic piece of land named Klein Pella , 270 km from Upington in the Northern Cape .
According to Karstens , it was the previous owner of the farm who brought the date seed over to Klein Pella . “ When we took over the farm , I had no idea of the potential or real value of the dates , but with time and paying attention I began to realise that there is the potential for good profits in date farming .”
The biggest challenge of date farming he says , is the precision with which every step must be handled . “ Dates are very sensitive . They need to be harvested proper ly at the right time , in the right manner . It takes time to get that balance right .”
Date farming is definitely for the farmer who thinks out of the box , for the producer looking to diversify his produce beyond the traditional crops in order to broaden his market reach .
The date plant is resilient , surviving extreme temperatures , growing in dry desert conditions and not really needing much water . The trees grow very large and it produces fruit for a long time . You could argue that the biggest cost of date farming is in fact , time . Patience is vital for a producer wanting to farm dates as they can take up to four to six years after planting to bear good fruit and even longer when the aim is commercial production .
The little known fruit carries the possibility for big rewards for a farmer looking to explore this market .
Watch the Nation in Conversation episode about dates by using the following link : http :// senwes . co / dates
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SENWES SCENARIO | SPRING 2018