Long-term date palm experiment for Evaluation of Elite Date Palm Varieties for biotic and abiotic stress

Objectives

1. Assess the long-term impact of salinity on date palm growth, productivity, and fruit quality as well as on land (soil)
2. Asses the genotypic differences for fruit quality, quantity, and disease and pest susceptibility.
3. Scale-up best management practices under salinity stress ->  Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategy
4. Develop the Palm Smart Management Solution modules for Irrigation,
5. Develop the Palm Smart Management Solution modules for Infestation Complete Surveillance, and Early detection and compare the effectiveness of different new control techniques for Red Palm Weevil
6. Conserving the existing genetic resources by replanting the missing trees using tissue culture technique  (lost after severe disease affectation)

Experiment Details

Planting date: 2001 and 2002

Field Variables:

• Date Palm Varieties: 18 (10 from UAE; 7 from Saudi Arabia and 1 from Iraq)
• Salinity levels: 4 (0.4 dS/m, 5 dS/m,  10 dS/m  and 15 dS/m)
• Replications: Variable; 2 for 0.4 dS/m, 3 for 5 dS/m and 5 each for 10 and 15 dS/m 
• Planting arrangement: Systematic planting in rows within each salinity level

Date palm varieties

Date palm varieties used in our experiment and their origin, approximative potential yield, maturity time, and distribution in the UAE