‘Date palm-cultivated lands expected to double’

AMMAN — Date palm cultivation stakeholders expect cultivated land to double in size in the Kingdom and to reach a total of 1 million date palm trees, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Saturday.

The annual date production rate in the Kingdom is expected to surpass JD200 million, and the number of workers to reach 8,000. However, such growth “relies heavily” on the ability to overcome current obstacles faced by the industry, such as insufficient water supply, the lack of needed workers, the presence of pests and diseases, as well as “inefficient marketing”, according to stakeholders.

The challenges require the concerned authorities to cooperate with the Jordan Dates Association, Petra added. Jordan is the third biggest producer of Medjool dates, accounting for 14 per cent of total global production.