In Wenchang City, Hainan Province, the "China-UAE Friendship Forest of Date Palm" showcases the thriving date palm trees from the United Arab Emirates. Unlike the typical three to five years it takes for date palms to bear fruit in Arab countries, those in Hainan have fruited in approximately two years. This is indicative of the progress made in the cooperation between China and the UAE in the date palm industry, as stated by Hu Wei, director of the Coconut Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences.
The date palm, often referred to as "the bread of the desert," holds a significant place in Arab countries both as a major food crop and an important agricultural export product. Following a 2019 agreement, the UAE donated 100,000 date palm seedlings to China, with the first batch of 1,500 seedlings planted at the Coconut Research Institute in December 2021.
Xu Zhongliang, the institute's deputy director, mentioned the successful transfer of seedling propagation technology, cultivation techniques, and pest and disease control methods from other scientific fields to date palms. Hu highlighted the broad market prospects for dates, attributing their high nutritional value and the date palm tree's resilience to extreme environmental conditions as advantageous for ecological restoration. The institute aims to expand regional trial planting in hot areas like Hainan and Yunnan, pushing forward technological innovation, cooperation exchanges, and contributing to the Belt and Road Initiative and international scientific and technological cooperation.
Source: ecns.cn
