Crop guide

Date Palm

1. Land Preparation Pits 3 x 3 x 3 ft, spacing 24 x 24 ft. Date palm handles heat, salinity and poor water better than almost any other fruit, which is why it dominates Khairpur and Makran. 2.

Both Sowing Feb–Mar Harvest Jul–Aug 80–120 kg per acre

Land Preparation

Pits 3 x 3 x 3 ft, spacing 24 x 24 ft. Date palm handles heat, salinity and poor water better than almost any other fruit, which is why it dominates Khairpur and Makran.

Sowing Time & Method

Plant offshoots (suckers) from a known female tree in February–March or August–September. Seedling palms are a gamble — half will be male and fruit quality is unpredictable. Varieties: Aseel, Karbalain, Begum Jangi, Dhakki.

Seed Rate & Treatment

Offshoots, not seed. Keep one male palm for every 40–50 female palms for pollination.

Fertilizer

Per bearing palm per year: 40–50 kg farmyard manure, 2–3 kg urea, 2 kg DAP, 2 kg SOP, applied in two splits before and after flowering.

Irrigation

Every 10–15 days in summer. Reduce sharply as fruit ripens — rain or heavy irrigation at ripening splits and spoils the fruit, which is the single biggest loss in Khairpur most years.

Weed Control

Weed Damage Control Product
Bermuda Grass (Khabbal) Mats the whole basin and drinks the irrigation water before it soaks down to the palm's roots. Hoe the basin again and again and lift the runners out with their roots
Purple Nutsedge (Deela) Fills the wet basin after every irrigation and takes the nitrogen meant for the palm's feeding roots. Dig the basin over and lift the tubers out — hoeing alone brings it back
Horse Purslane (Itsit) Carpets the basin in summer and drinks the moisture between waterings, so the basin dries out before the next turn. Hoe it out of the basin once the surface has dried after irrigation, and carry the plants off the field before it sets seed — stems left lying on damp soil root again
Camel Thorn (Jawansa) Its deep root pulls up the moisture stored below the basin — the reserve the palm falls back on in a hot dry spell. Dig the root out deep and cut back every regrowth — the thorny clumps need a spade and gloves, not a hand pull
Parthenium (Gajar Booti) Takes over the basin in the hot months and takes the water and fertiliser there before the palm's surface roots get any. Uproot it before it flowers, wearing gloves and full sleeves — touching this plant raises a rash on bare skin

Keep the basin clear and remove old dried fronds and spathes, which harbour pests.

Insect Pests

Red palm weevil bores into the trunk and can kill a mature palm before the damage is obvious — watch for oozing sap, chewed fibre at the crown and a hollow sound. Lesser date moth attacks the bunches.

Diseases

Graphiola leaf spot and bunch fading. Good air movement through the crown and removal of old fronds prevent most trouble.

Harvesting

Harvest at the doka (khalal) stage for fresh sale or dang for drying, depending on variety and market. Cover bunches with net or paper before ripening to keep birds and rain off.