Date palm farmers in Kutch set to get lucrative returns

GANDHINAGAR: Gujarat government is in the process of setting up a centre of excellence for post-harvest treatment of dates that would revolutionize the date palm cultivation in the state. Very soon, farmers would start getting lucrative returns on their date produce. The centre, which is being developed under the Indo-Israel Agriculture Project, is expected to start by the end of this financial year at Kukama village in Kutch.
Sources said that the Indian harvest of dates coincides with monsoons and the highly perishable fruit is consumed in its raw form unlike the dates that are imported.
"We have to consume the fruit when it is in the second stage of ripening. It has four stages of ripening. The centre will work towards conversion of this raw stage to the ripe stage of the fruit and also for the cold storage of the harvest so that farmers can sell it at a later stage and earn handsome amount from the produce that has been harvested at the second stage of ripening," said an official.
The four stages of ripening of the fruit are Kimri, Khalal, Rutab and Tamar.
Sources said that Gujarat has 17.17 thousand hectare of land under date farming which is the maximum in India and production amounts to 138.17 metric tonne from approximately 17 lakh trees.
"We experimented with the cold storage of the produce for three months last year and were able to sell it at Rs 800 to Rs 1,000 per kg at a horticulture export event in New Delhi whereas the small farmers who have to quickly sell off their product on account of its perishability hardly get Rs 80 per kg to Rs 100 per kg for their produce.
"Our local variety is very good and even Israel is interested in it. There have also been efforts made in promoting its tissue culture," said the official. It was disclosed that the Kutchi variety is pretty popular and some of the bigger farmers in the district are actually exporting the variety.
Sources said that besides being consumed directly, there are several other products that can be derived from dates. These include cookies, syrup, pickles, etc.
"Our focus will be only on post-harvest process. There is a cultivation project of dates already running in Rajasthan in Jodhpur and Jaipur," said the official.