Adverse weather affects date yield

Melvin Mendonca/DTNN

Manama

 Adverse weather has affected the dates farming in the Kingdom this year.

 Heavy winds and fall in temperature in regular intervals since April has resulted in poor as well as delayed yield of dates, claimed Dalvinder, who has been working in date palm farms since 1973.

 According to him, the dates start ripening at the end of May. A variety called ‘Moji’ starts ripening early in the year. But this year, the ripening has been delayed by almost a month.

 A worst sandstorm hit the Kingdom on April 1, throwing normal life out of gear. Later heavy winds hit the Kingdom in mid April. The Kingdom was again hit by winds on May 15 and 16.

 On the other hand, fog patches were reported on May 30, reducing the visibility to 800 metres at the Bahrain International Airport.

 According to the Meteorological  Department of the Ministry of Transportation and Communication, this phenomenon had not occurred since May 2000. In the meantime, the Al Bareh (Shamal) winds hit the Kingom in June, resulting in fall in the temperature.

 Dalvinder said the vagaries of weather not only delay the ripening of dates, but also affect the yield.

 If there is any variation in weather, the date fruits start falling, before they could reach the soft stage (Rutab and Tamar), causing a loss to date producers.

 Moreover, when the fruits are at their early development stage, nearly black-indurated patches are found on the fruit, if the wind is powerful. It is because the wind beats the tender fruits against the hard fronds, Dalvinder said.

 Usually, half-ripen dates are high in demand and people eagerly wait for their arrival. But this year has been slightly disappointing for date lovers, he said.