Today's Edition
Batool Ghaith (Abu Dhabi)
Hundreds of rare date varieties may be growing quietly on farms across the UAE, unnamed and undocumented. A new Abu Dhabi initiative will give each one a formal record and, with it, a chance to be recognised.
According to a UAE-based researcher who specialises in date palms, any one of these varieties could turn out to be the industry's next commercial success, or carry a trait that helps solve a problem growers haven't even faced yet.
"If the variety is never documented, it may disappear, without key stakeholders and specialists ever knowing it existed," said Dr Jonathan Flowers, Research Assistant Professor at the Centre for Genomics and Systems Biology at NYU Abu Dhabi.
Just how many varieties are we talking about? Flowers said about 100 varieties are commonly grown across the UAE, but another 250 to 300 rare varieties could still be found on farms or even as single trees.
The Abu Dhabi Heritage Authority launched the Documentation of New Date Palm Varieties initiative in July, aiming to scientifically record newly developed date varieties, recognise the farmers behind them, and create a system that preserves agricultural heritage while supporting sustainability and innovation.
Flowers said the initiative goes far beyond record-keeping. He explained that documenting a new variety involves characterisation of botanical features of the date palm including its flowering and fruit ripening time, vegetative characteristics, and, most importantly, the fruit quality - its colour, size, taste, and shape.
He added that the stage at which the variety produces superior fruit quality is also documented, along with any other features that make it unique, such as the size of the spines.
How New Date Varieties are Grown
Unlike many crops, developing a new date variety is a lengthy process, according to Flowers.
It begins by planting a seed and waiting typically between four and eight years for the palm to flower. Farmers then select trees producing superior fruit and wait several more years until offshoots emerge, allowing the new variety to be cloned.
For many farmers, the expert said, new varieties remain within their own farms or are shared informally with neighbouring growers. Others may pursue Plant Variety Protection (PVP), allowing them to register the variety and obtain breeder's rights, creating opportunities for future commercialisation.
Flowers noted that the initiative provides an incentive for farmers to engage in agricultural innovation through the breeding of new varieties.
He believes this has also become increasingly important as date palms face threats from climate change, and emerging pests and diseases. One example is the red palm weevil (RPW), which continues to damage farms across the UAE and the wider region.
"Every new variety has the potential to be resistant to threats such as the RPW and therefore has the potential to solve major challenges to date production now and in the future," Flowers said.
Protecting Diversity Before It Disappears
Breeding new varieties is also a way to preserve genetic diversity, which the expert said is essential for future crop improvement and for avoiding what is known as genetic erosion.
He explained that commercial farming naturally favours high-demand varieties such as Khalas, Fard, Khenezi, Shishi and Lulu because they maximise returns. Over time, though, this can lead to monoculture, where a handful of varieties dominate production while rarer ones gradually disappear.
"Monoculture puts the crop at risk over the long term. Each variety is a clone, and all members of the clone are susceptible to the same existing or emerging diseases," Flowers added.
Planting seeds and developing new varieties helps counter this, he said, as every new variety becomes a reservoir of genetic diversity.
Combining Science with Traditional Knowledge
For generations, knowledge about new date varieties has largely been passed down through farming communities. While this preserved valuable experience, Flowers said much information has been lost over time.
Today, little historical documentation exists showing who bred particular varieties, where they first appeared, which parent trees were selected, or what traits farmers were trying to improve.
A scientific documentation system changes that, Flowers stressed, as it establishes the pedigree of new varieties, records their characteristics, and preserves valuable knowledge about breeding practices.
