Effect of Mechanical (Dry and Wet) Pollination of Date Palms on Cultivar Naghal in the Sultanate of Oman

Abstract

Date palms, scientifically known as Phoenix Dactylifera L. is a plant species where male and female inflorescences are on separate palms. In this case self-pollination is impossible and so cross pollination is required to produce fruits. Unfortunately, pollination doesn't happen reliably enough by natural means, so it is needed to artificially pollinate each female palm to sustain yield levels, enhance fruit set and make the production economically feasible for date farmers. Different methods of artificial pollination of date palms have been tried over the years, namely, the manual method of placing fresh male spikelets, hand pollination with pollen dust and sprays etc. Mechanical pollination techniques have also been tried in some parts of the globe for sustainable date fruit production. This has not been very popular in most of the arid geographic locations, due to lack of awareness and uncertainty among palm growers. This paper reviews different artificial methods that can be adopted to pollinate date palms; highlighting the non-conventional methods, such as liquid suspension spray techniques and powder/dust pollination approaches on cultivar, Naghal. The study was conducted during the 2020 season under the arid agro-climatic condition of the Sultanate of Oman. Effect of these methods on parameters such as yield, fruit set, fruit quality on this cultivar is also investigated. The paper also provides a comparative analysis of the recent methods in the area of date palm pollination, related tools and technologies used by plant breeders to improve yield and fruit quality.