Project's Presentation

To increase and to diversify crop production is the main Government policy thrust for Agriculture. Improving the country’s food self-sufficiency ratio is the target although, at present, there is a shift towards food security. Under the leadership of His Highness, The President Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahayan, there are continual efforts to increase agricultural productivity, to make better use of available resources, and to produce an agricultural leap that is changing the face of the UAE’s desert.


Indeed, His Highness, The President, attaches a great importance to agricultural development in general, and to date palm in particular. This special attention is clearly evident in the continued expansion in agricultural resources and investments, in the fast growth in the number of palm trees, in the continued increase in the size and variety of date products, in the extensive use of modern technologies, and in the important initiatives undertaken in the areas of manufacturing and marketing of date fruits.

Presently, the Government and private sector date growers are convinced of the date production potential and are striving to establish and strengthen date plantations and to promote a modern date production industry. However, they are partially lacking some good quality date varieties, and are planning to mass-propagate these selected varieties through tissue culture techniques to satisfy the demand.

It is therefore necessary to overcome all shortcomings which could hamper the development and strengthening of the date palm production industry in the UAE.

The Government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in the framework of its development plans, has placed the establishment of a date production industry among its priorities. The Date Palm Research and Development Programme (DPRDP) is one of several projects implemented by the UAE -University. Indeed the UAE-University plays a distinct role through multi disciplinary research programmes at the Agricultural Sciences Faculty. The Date Research and Development Unit which includes the Plant Tissue Culture Laboratory is one of these important programmes. Over the past ten - (10) years, substantial investments have been made in the date production and propagation areas mainly using tissue culture techniques.

At the initiative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Country’s office in UAE and the UAE University, an introduction mission to UAE University was undertaken by the Chief Technical Adviser (CTA) during the period 19 - 27 February 1999. The implementation of this introduction mission was made possible by funds from the UNDP Country’s office (Abu Dhabi - UAE).

The objectives of this mission were to assess the situation of the date palm tissue culture laboratory, identify technical constraints to be overcome and to formulate an overall strategy and action Programme to support the date palm research and development programme in UAE. A project document proposal was drafted and submitted to UNDP Headquarters. In the context of the Country Cooperation Framework for the period 1997 - 2001, the UAE - University requested the UN technical assistance for a Date Palm Research and Development Programme.

Consequently, an agreement was signed on 5 December 1999, between the UAE - University as agent of the UAE - Government and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) representing UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) as the executing agency.

The project reference is UAE / 2000 / 002 and the title is “Date Palm Research and Development Programme“ with a government contribution of US $ 639,996.00 (Duration: 4 years).

The project is to provide technical and scientific skills to the date research and development unit at the UAE University, to strengthen the tissue culture laboratory, to improve mass propagation and production techniques and to ensure the training of personnel. The continuous availability of the best date palm varieties, the implementation of the research and development programme, and the build up of national capacity are the aims of the project.

The project will strengthen the Date Palm Research and Development Unit of the UAE - University, then it is mainly focussed to national capacity building. As consequence of the first results, i.e. supply of vitro-plants to and their cultivation by the beneficiary farmers, the project will play a very important role in the improvement of living conditions of rural communities, protection of the environment and sustainable management of natural resources.

As previously stated, the UAE Government is making all efforts to increase the date tree population in order to promote the date industry and to counteract the destruction effect of the RPW. Several million of date trees, covering a large spectrum of renown date varieties, are hence to be rapidly and cost-effectively produced through tissue culture.

The Date Tissue Culture Laboratory of the Date Palm Research and Development Unit of the UAE University - Al Ain, was established during 1989.

The immediate beneficiaries will be the UAE University presented by the Palm Tissue Culture laboratory and the target beneficiaries will be the Government and private sector date growers producing, retailing and exporting date products. Local date fruit consumers and the world Muslim community would also share the benefit due to the expected increase in dates available in the country. Finally, the ecosystem of arid regions in UAE will be improved.

The Date Palm Project will concentrate its activities at the Date Palm Research and Development Unit including the Tissue Culture Laboratory in Al-Ain.

The project is attached to the UAE University which is appointed by the Ministry of  Education  as the executing agency.

The project is working in close cooperation with existing institutions, organisations and projects related to the agricultural development in UAE.

The Expected Outputs of the Project are: