The Impressive Journey of the Date: How Farmers Climb 20-Meter Palms Under 50°C Sun to Harvest Millions of Fruits in Arid Middle Eastern Deserts

Written by Felipe Alves da Silva

Published on 01/07/2025 at 18:32

Agricultores colhem tâmaras em palmeiras de 20 metros no deserto, usando cordas e plataformas hidráulicas

5 pessoas reagiram a isso.

In Desert Regions Like the Middle East and North Africa, Farmers Climb Palms Up to 20 Meters High Under Temperatures Above 50 °C to Harvest Dates, One of the Oldest and Most Valuable Fruits in the World, Cultivated for Over 6,000 Years and a Symbol of Human Resilience.

Despite the inhospitable environment, the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) thrives in arid climates with more than 100 sunny days a year. Its deep roots reach aquifers, but irrigation is still essential. Today, modern drip systems are used to optimize water use and ensure proper fruit development.

The propagation of the palm occurs preferably through lateral shoots (called offshoots), which preserve the genetics of the mother plant. These shoots are replanted with strategic spacing of up to 30 feet to allow for the growth of the canopy and roots in well-drained soils.

From Planting to Manual Pollination

In the early years, care includes intensive irrigation, mineral fertilization, pruning, and pest control. Upon reaching maturity, between 3 and 5 years, the trees require manual pollination. As date palms do not self-pollinate, pollen from male flowers needs to be collected and applied to female flowers, usually by trained workers.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

Major Oil, Gas, and Energy Event Will Take Place in Brazil: Macaé Energy Will Gather Petrobras, Equinor, Prio, Among Other Suppliers and Energy Executives for Business, Networking, and Employment Opportunities

The Technical Agenda and the Fair in the City of Macaé Should Boost Discussions on Investments, Energy Transition, and Development of the Oil, Gas, and Energy Chain in the National...

Paulo Nogueira

On average, a single male can provide enough pollen to fertilize up to 50 females. After three weeks, the first fruits appear. On farms like those in California, farmers carry out manual thinning of young dates to enhance final quality and use mesh bags to protect the clusters from pests and birds.

The maturation phase occurs during the hottest months. Workers climb the trees with ropes or are lifted by cranes to remove thorns and old leaves, in addition to facilitating access to the fruits, which are manually cut with machetes and lowered via pulley systems.

From Harvest to Processing with Cutting-Edge Technology

In large plantations, hydraulic platforms replace manual labor. Workers use safety equipment to access ripe clusters more quickly and with less risk. The adoption of this technology has increased harvesting productivity by up to 10 times and significantly improved worker safety.

The dates are then sent to industrial facilities where they undergo rigorous inspections. Substandard fruits are discarded. The approved ones proceed to tanks with high-pressure jets and oxygenation, removing dust, sand, and organic residues before passing through multispectral cameras that automatically sort up to 50,000 units per hour.

After this process, the dates are sorted, weighed, and packaged with precision. The thermal sealing system ensures freshness and prevents contact with external air. The premium varieties, such as medjool, can sell for three times more than others in the international market due to their quality and high production costs.

A Global Market in Expansion

According to the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), over 100 countries cultivate dates, with global production exceeding 9 million tons per year. Egypt leads, followed by Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Algeria. In the United States, production is smaller but highly specialized.

This information was detailed by the channel Radiant Farming, which specializes in agricultural content, and supplemented with data from the FAO and UC Agriculture and Natural Resources from the University of California, which also monitors the cultivation of dates in the Coachella Valley.

4 Comentários

Mais recente

Mais antigos Mais votado

Feedbacks

Visualizar todos comentários

larry dina

#228624

23/01/2026 19:00

HELLO everyone! Still don’t know the right words to express my Gratitude to the Great DR. Irosi After being diagnosed with the #herpes for the past 1 years, I was given so many health prescriptions and advice with no improvement, I totally lost hope, until I found many testimonies of Great DR. Irosi in an online research Like anybody would be, i advice anyone that is living with herpes can also contact him today, because he has the cure to any virus, disease or illness. Contact him on WhatsApp: https://wa.me/+2349159062807 Email: drirosisolutioncenter@gmail.com

Responder

emily

#209661

16/12/2025 05:54

Life is always beautiful when you have good health. For almost 4 years I have been with Cancer and I was lonely and sad. Luckily I was addressed to a kind and great doctor named dr Abolo, who helped me to restore my health. Cure me of Cancer Disease with his local medication completely. Today I am free of Cancer and very healthy, thank you very much Dr. Abolo For returning to my health, I will always be grateful to Dr. Abolo. If you are reading this testimony and having some kind of illness. (1) Hepatitis. (2) HPV VIRUS. (3) Herpes. (4) shingles (HIV). etc. you can also contact him through his WhatsApp https: +212709904514 today get your own cure thanks.

Responder

Eliza

#189734

10/11/2025 19:40

Fui diagnosticada com doença de Parkinson há quatro anos. Por mais de dois anos, dependi da levodopa e de vários outros medicamentos, mas, infelizmente, os sintomas continuaram piorando. Os tremores se tornaram mais perceptíveis e meu equilíbrio e mobilidade começaram a declinar rapidamente. No ano passado, por desespero e esperança, decidi experimentar um programa de tratamento à base de ervas da NaturePath Herbal Clinic. Sinceramente, eu estava cética no início, mas, poucos meses após o início do tratamento, comecei a notar mudanças reais. Meus movimentos ficaram mais suaves, os tremores diminuíram e me senti mais firme ao caminhar. Incrivelmente, também recuperei grande parte da minha energia e confiança. Tem sido uma experiência transformadora. Me sinto mais eu mesma novamente, melhor do que me sentia há anos. Se você ou um ente querido está lutando contra a doença de Parkinson, recomendo muito que você considere a abordagem natural deles. Você pode visitar o site deles em www .naturepathherbalclinic .com

Responder

The Impressive Journey of the Date: How Farmers Climb 20-Meter Palms Under 50°C Sun to Harvest Millions of Fruits in Arid Middle Eastern Deserts

In Desert Regions Like the Middle East and North Africa, Farmers Climb Palms Up to 20 Meters High Under Temperatures Above 50 °C to Harvest Dates, One of the Oldest and Most Valuable Fruits in the World, Cultivated for Over 6,000 Years and a Symbol of Human Resilience.

From Planting to Manual Pollination

Major Oil, Gas, and Energy Event Will Take Place in Brazil: Macaé Energy Will Gather Petrobras, Equinor, Prio, Among Other Suppliers and Energy Executives for Business, Networking, and Employment Opportunities

From Harvest to Processing with Cutting-Edge Technology

A Global Market in Expansion

For 45 years, Spain and Morocco have been trying to connect Europe to Africa through a project of just 14 kilometers in the Strait of Gibraltar, and an active tectonic fault on the seabed continues to make the project nearly impossible.

At just 14 years old, a boy creates a system without energy, using steel pipes buried in the ground, that irrigates seedlings with moisture from the air, to combat the water scarcity threatening reforestation in northern China.

Where there was only sand and wind at 40 degrees, China built a megacity of 500,000 inhabitants with farms, wineries, and universities in the middle of the desert using melted glacier water from hundreds of kilometers away.

Technology developed to protect military communications in the 1940s scrambled voices and today gives rise to the robotic sound that dominates current music.

In the heart of the Sahara, a city built in the desert and marked by wealth, faith, and knowledge is being slowly engulfed by giant dunes, while residents engage in a silent race to prevent everything from turning into ruins.

What if a coffee with almost no caffeine was worth up to 50 times more than Arabica? A Brazilian producer bets on the rare eugenioides, which can reach $20,000 per sack and is already attracting the attention of demanding markets around the world.

China will open 10 mega scientific facilities to the world in 2026 and accelerate the global race for technology with the FAST super telescope and nuclear fusion reactor.

Technology developed to protect military communications in the 1940s scrambled voices and today gives rise to the robotic sound that dominates current music.

If you look at the sky this Wednesday, you will see the Pink Moon shining at its peak at 10:11 PM, but before you get disappointed, know that the name has nothing to do with the color and instead refers to flowers that bloom at this time in the United States.

A new AI collar technology for cattle eliminates physical fences, creates virtual barriers, monitors animals 24/7, and detects changes in behavior and health.

For a few weeks each year, an entire country blooms with billions of tulips, creating a mosaic of colors visible from the sky, while a single garden gathers more than 7 million flowers and attracts visitors from around the world to one of the most impressive shows in Europe.

Discovery at USP reveals how Brazilian arnica can revolutionize the production of silver nanoparticles with less environmental impact.

The Impressive Journey of the Date: How Farmers Climb 20-Meter Palms Under 50°C Sun to Harvest Millions of Fruits in Arid Middle Eastern Deserts

In Desert Regions Like the Middle East and North Africa, Farmers Climb Palms Up to 20 Meters High Under Temperatures Above 50 °C to Harvest Dates, One of the Oldest and Most Valuable Fruits in the World, Cultivated for Over 6,000 Years and a Symbol of Human Resilience.

From Planting to Manual Pollination

Major Oil, Gas, and Energy Event Will Take Place in Brazil: Macaé Energy Will Gather Petrobras, Equinor, Prio, Among Other Suppliers and Energy Executives for Business, Networking, and Employment Opportunities

From Harvest to Processing with Cutting-Edge Technology

A Global Market in Expansion

For 45 years, Spain and Morocco have been trying to connect Europe to Africa through a project of just 14 kilometers in the Strait of Gibraltar, and an active tectonic fault on the seabed continues to make the project nearly impossible.

At just 14 years old, a boy creates a system without energy, using steel pipes buried in the ground, that irrigates seedlings with moisture from the air, to combat the water scarcity threatening reforestation in northern China.

Where there was only sand and wind at 40 degrees, China built a megacity of 500,000 inhabitants with farms, wineries, and universities in the middle of the desert using melted glacier water from hundreds of kilometers away.

Technology developed to protect military communications in the 1940s scrambled voices and today gives rise to the robotic sound that dominates current music.

In the heart of the Sahara, a city built in the desert and marked by wealth, faith, and knowledge is being slowly engulfed by giant dunes, while residents engage in a silent race to prevent everything from turning into ruins.

What if a coffee with almost no caffeine was worth up to 50 times more than Arabica? A Brazilian producer bets on the rare eugenioides, which can reach $20,000 per sack and is already attracting the attention of demanding markets around the world.

China will open 10 mega scientific facilities to the world in 2026 and accelerate the global race for technology with the FAST super telescope and nuclear fusion reactor.

The sea water temperature rose from 28 to 34 degrees in Santa Catarina and killed up to 90% of the oysters: producers who planted over 1 million seeds lost practically everything and say that if it happens again, production is doomed to end.

An Indian tree that grows in the Brazilian Northeast produces an oil capable of acting against more than 200 species of pests and interrupting the insect cycle, gaining ground as a natural alternative in soybean, cotton, and vegetable crops.

The rise in oil prices in the Middle East is already affecting Brazilian sugar: mills in the Central-South are seeing their margins shrink just as ethanol gains strength.

Rain gains strength in April, potentially exceeding 150 mm, placing the North, Northeast, and the coasts of the South and Southeast at the center of the heaviest forecast of the week.

A fish that survives out of water, crawls on land until it finds another river, and whose female lays 80,000 eggs at once is infesting rivers and lakes in Brazil, and no one can stop this invasion.

Technology developed to protect military communications in the 1940s scrambled voices and today gives rise to the robotic sound that dominates current music.

If you look at the sky this Wednesday, you will see the Pink Moon shining at its peak at 10:11 PM, but before you get disappointed, know that the name has nothing to do with the color and instead refers to flowers that bloom at this time in the United States.

A new AI collar technology for cattle eliminates physical fences, creates virtual barriers, monitors animals 24/7, and detects changes in behavior and health.

For a few weeks each year, an entire country blooms with billions of tulips, creating a mosaic of colors visible from the sky, while a single garden gathers more than 7 million flowers and attracts visitors from around the world to one of the most impressive shows in Europe.

Discovery at USP reveals how Brazilian arnica can revolutionize the production of silver nanoparticles with less environmental impact.

In Desert Regions Like the Middle East and North Africa, Farmers Climb Palms Up to 20 Meters High Under Temperatures Above 50 °C to Harvest Dates, One of the Oldest and Most Valuable Fruits in the World, Cultivated for Over 6,000 Years and a Symbol of Human Resilience.