Nigeria is lagging behind in date production
But date palm trees enjoy rainy and dry fruiting seasons in the savannah region of Nigeria. Dates grown in the region start flowering around January-February and are ripe for harvesting around June-July, while fruits of the rainy season start flowering around September-October and are ready for harvesting around February-March.
However, despite this advantage of a double harvest, the country produces less than 20 percent of what is being consumed in the country; the remaining 80 percent is imported.
Speaking to Daily Trust on the cultivation of dates in the country, the officer in charge of the Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research (Date Palm Research Institution Substation), Hamza Abdulhameed Mohammed, said the institution had come up with variety of seedlings capable of making the country the leading date palm producer in the world.
According to Mohammed, the institute had produced seedlings of dried, semi dried and soft varieties of date palm. On the date palm producing belt in his country, Mohammed said that apart from double harvests, in some regions there are very high yields recorded as well; in Kano, Jigawa, Kaduna, Katsina, Sokoto, Kebbi, Zanfara, Gombe, Borno, Yobe, Bauchi, Adamawa and some parts of Taraba.
On post-harvest storage, Mohammed said dates could be stored for as long as a year or even beyond, provided there is effective storage management. He noted that the best way to preserve dates is by leaving them on the bunch, on layers of wood-supported mesh wire in a well ventilated store.
The reason why Nigeria is still lagging behind, is that most local farmers believe dates are a desert crop and as such they don't need water. This means farmers do not water the date palms enough. In the beginning they ought to water their date palms for at least two years.
Another challenge in the cultivation of dates is that of stray animals. In some cases, it may be the only available green crop, and that makes it vulnerable.
