Fresh date production in Kachchh (India): Challenges and future prospects

Abstract

Date groves of Kachchh encompasses a unique date palm based agro ecosystem mainly developed through seeds hence exhibit great variability and diversity which also offers a rich gene pool. After endorsing the variety ‘Barhee’ for cultivation in Kachchh, its adaptability attained great momentum increasing the area to about 800 ha within a short period. Non availability and high cost of tissue culture planting material still remain a challenge. The great diversity which exists in the groves is also not fully exploited for the benefit of farmers. On set of monsoon coinciding with the harvest pose a great risk and covering with plastic coated material before monsoon offers some protection. The identification and characterization of good male palms to trap the metaxenia effect, collection and storage of pollen, standardization of pollination techniques etc. need improvement for enhancing the productivity. Many operations like pollination, harvesting etc. are time bound and labour intensive and hence need to be mechanized. The high water requirement of the crop is a matter of debate for its further expansion in the arid zones, where water is very scarce. No serious attempt has been made to explore the possibility for value addition and post harvest techniques especially for the low quality fruits, which need to be addressed on priority. Among the biotic stress, Red palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus is a great threat especially in young orchards, for which a periodical scouting and monitoring through pheromones is useful. This crop is very hard and highly salt tolerant and can survive in harsh climatic conditions under problematic and degraded soil with issue related to salinity. There is a great potential for this crop to rejuvenate such vast degraded and problematic soil to productive.