INTRODUCTION

Date palm ( Phoenix dactylifera L. ) is considered the most important fruit crop in the Sultanate of Oman and occupying nearly 50% of the cultivated land in Oman. It is estimated that 35,000 hectares of land are planted with date palms and 28,000 hectares with other crops, including 11,000 hectares planted with rotation crops . These statistics reflect the importance of date palm tree to the Omani people who have lived with this tree for centuries. The date palm has retained its value for the dwellers of the desert because of its adaptive characteristics to the environment and the wide range of its benefits. It provides the family with many of the life necessities.

The date itself is a high energy food item for both people and livestock. Any surplus dates are sold or traded for other items needed by the family. Branches and leaves of the palm were used to make baskets, ropes, boxes, and crates. The same traditional practices of date palm cultivation and maintenance that have been implemented since ancient times are still practiced by most date farms in Oman. In many areas of the Sultanate, date orchards are well-developed in terms of cultivar selection, planting, harvesting, marketing and storage. The palm tree provided building materials, thus most of the old houses were built in palm gardens are of palm trunks and mud, and the parts of the tree not having other uses were a major source of fuel for cooking and heat in the winter. Many of the youth have left their farms to the cities in the sake of stable-income jobs as a result of oil discovery in the Sultanate. Therefore, most of the traditional cultural practices are still carried out by old men with only a slight variation or no change at all , since most of the modern techniques are not applicable by many farmers. The objective of this paper is to present a review of the traditional date palm cultural practices and the utilization of date palm tree as a major fruit crop in the Oman. This will include propagation, land preparation, planting, irrigation, fertilization, intercropping, pollination, pest management pruning, harvesting, consumption, utilization and marketing and storage. 

Date Palm of Oman:

Oman is located in the southeast of Arabian Peninsula. It falls between longitudes 5314' and 5958' east and latitudes 1644' and 2622' north. The population of Oman is around 2.2 millions and the surface area 212,455 sq. km.. In the summer, the climate is hot and humid in the Batinah and other coastal cities while it moderate and dry in the interior regions of Oman. The average annual rainfall is ranging between 80-100 mm except the southern region where the monsoon wind cause intense precipitation reaching 400mm. Series of mountains in northern Oman reach an altitude of 3000 m above sea level, a height that allow temperate fruit crops such as peaches, apricots, pomegranate and grapevines to be grown. In the level land, other crops beside date palm, which occupies the largest cultivated area, are grown such as mango and citrus crops. Coconut, papaya and bananas are the most important fruit crops in southern Oman. In spite of the variety of the fruit crops due to difference in the climate of Oman , nearly three quarters of the area given to tree crops is monopolized by date palm, Phoenix dactylifera, while, particularly, in the interior region of Oman this proportion rises to seven-eight's ), where date palm growing density is 250 tee/ha of the total area of 8.300 ha . Different literature at different times have cited variable estimation of the number of palm trees and yield quantity. The total number of date palm trees currently is estimated to be around seven million with a wide range of varieties. Popenoe mentioned that Oman is credited with 4,000,000, the larger part of which were in the Batinah Cost. He reported that Samail ( part of the interior region now) reached the highest point in industry of date palm where half a million palms, two third of the variety Fardh which is until now the highest in quality of all date cultivars in Oman. He reported that the total annual exports of Oman were estimated at 30,000 tons. Wilkinson stated that the average yield of Batinah region palm was 75 lb. (34 Kg), but Samail estimate went up to 100 lb. ( 45Kg) per palm. He mentioned varieties in Buraimi like fardh, naghal, and khasab had 11 bunches per palm and yielded, on average, 40 Kg. Vittoz said that there are 3,500,000 palm trees in Oman of which 15% is located in the Interior and 30% in the Batinah region. FAO (1982) report indicated that the estimated annual production of Omani dates 50,000 tons and the number of date palm trees was 1 million for the period 1961 to 1978. Currently the date palm trees are estimated to be higher than before due to the introduction of new and easier production practices along with new cultivar which has increased the large scale farming of date palms. The number has raised to seven million tree. Nevertheless, most of the small scale farms are traditionally managed which seems more appropriate since there size is limited by the availability of irrigation water and/or tillable land ). Large number of small farms are irrigated by falaj which is a man-made underground tunnel through which water is tapped at the water table in the mountains and led to the plains where it is used for irrigation. Usually plots are quite small and hand tillage and harvesting method are more practical than the current mechanized methods. Moreover, there may not be enough room to maneuver the equipment without significant loss of farming area or damage to tree crops and irrigation channels.