Development of Sustainable Date Palm Production Systems in the GCC- Project Report 2006-2023

Abstract

Their Excellencies the Ministers of Agriculture, Water, Environment, Livestock and Fisheries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) launched a cooperation program for the development of sustainable production systems for date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) between the GCC countries and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). In the fourteenth Ministerial Meeting of the GCC Council in 2002, they announced the collective accession of the GCC countries to the membership of CGIAR. They also announced the allocation of the GCC Council annual contributions to cover the CGIAR cooperation program's costs. Activities of the “Development of Sustainable Date Palm Production Systems in the GCC Countries” project in coordination with ICARDA were launched in 2006 and focused on date palm research for generating knowledge and practices to improve date palm production. The project focused on preservation and utilization of effective dryland resources to generate water-saving cropping techniques and integrated crop and pest management to bring about cost-effectiveness in the date palm production, industry, and marketing systems. Phase 1 of the project (2006–2011) focused on generating adaptive research outputs to improve date palm productivity in terms of quantity, quality, nutrition, food security, and income generation. Upon request of the project partners, the project was extended to a second phase (2012–2018), which focused on more on-station and on-farm reconfirmation research with the aim of consolidating and scaling out the outputs and enhancing the outcomes. The third phase of the project (2020–2023) successfully built upon the achievements and improved technologies developed in partner countries over the past years and focused on consolidating and scaling the proven technologies within and beyond the region, advancing research on subsurface irrigation, and advancing digital augmentation of advisory services for a sustainable and resilient date palm industry in the region.