Minister of Agriculture: Mauritania has 2.6 million palm trees producing 24 thousand tons annually

Mauritania’s Minister of Agriculture, Amine Ould Bibate, announced that the country’s oases cover an area with 2.6 million date palms, distributed across the Adrar, Tiris Zemmour, Tagant, and Hodh regions, among others, producing around 24,000 tons of dates annually.

This statement was made during the opening of the third edition of the Mauritanian Dates International Festival, which began today, Friday, in the city of Tichit, the capital of the Tagant region.

He highlighted ongoing efforts to improve date production, noting that over the past five years, 1,400 hectares of model oases have been established, benefiting vulnerable communities in the oasis areas. Additionally, to preserve the old oases, irrigation has been secured for more than 200,000 date palms from these old oases, enhancing production and the quality of dates intended for processing at the Mauritanian Dates Company’s factory, which has increased its production capacity to 1,000 tons.

To diversify and improve the quality of production, this year 10,000 seedlings of the “Barhi” and “Medjool” varieties have been provided under the supervision and support of the National Date Palm Laboratory.

The festival, organized by the Mauritanian Ministry of Agriculture in collaboration with the Khalifa International Date Palm Awards and Agricultural Innovation, will take place from July 26 to 28, 2024. It aims to promote the culture of caring for date palms and their products, leveraging the region’s extensive and diverse oasis resources to enhance product quality and variety. The festival will also facilitate the exchange of foreign expertise with local farmers, positively impacting the local date production in terms of quality and diversity.