INTERCROPPING

To make the best use of the farm, it was and still a common practice to grow cotton, maize, alfalfa, wheat, vegetables, and fruits between and under the palm trees. Ward reported that grapevines, peaches, sweet lime, plums, apricot, and pomegranate were grown with the date palm at Wadi Tayin, Wadi Benikhalid and Wadi Halfain in Sharqya region. Most commonly in the level land is to interplant palms with citrus and alfalfa. According to the FAO paper, conditions in the old world often favor interplanting. First, The sensitivity of some fruit crops like citrus to harsh conditions, such as the high temperature, extremely cold or hot dry winds, and the strong sun make the date palm plantation shade the best way of producing high value fruit trees. Second, Interplanted is favored by small poor farmers who own an inherited a small date garden, thus planting some other fruit trees would provide an alternative income source. In addition, growing some of the fruit or fodder crop to be consumed by the household or provide income throughout the year is another perspective of practicing interplanting in old palm orchards especially at early years of orchard establishment when the return from it is low. These inter-crops also improve nutrition status and the physical properties of the soil.

POLLINATION AND BUNCH HANGING

The traditional pollination of female trees as described by Elmardi is achieved by inserting three or more dry male strands inside each female spadix just as it starts open. After that, the spadix is tied with a stripe of a date leaf to keep the strands in place in a way that ensure expansion of the fruits. The strands are laid upside-down or horizontally within the female flowers. The pollination is repeated as long as the female spadix opens. During this operation, the thorns are removed to facilitate bunch hanging and harvesting later on. Pollination is normally carried out after sunrise and before sunset, when conditions such as calm wind, warm temperature and no precipitation conditions are favorable for pollination. Pollination require knowledge and high skills in order to be carried out properly. The two major male cultivars that are used for pollination are Khori and Bahlani. Ibn al-Awwam says in pollination " I fecundated a wild palm in al-Sharaf at the time of opening of the flowers, with those of a male introduced in and tied in, and dates of good quality were produced; which operation is done only once a year, but it is necessary to repeat it each year as for figs". Several operations are performed after pollination and fruit set. This include thinning of heavily loaded palms, release of bunches from the tree crown, thinning the bunches and protection from birds and rodents. Bunch Hanging comes after the date fruits have developed before the ripening. According to Elmardi , three weeks after pollination the bunches are pulled under the lower leaves and tied to the leaf rachis with a rope or palm leaflets. The main purpose of bunch hanging is to keep the dates from being scratched or bruised by thorns or leaflets during windy conditions, reduce fruit dropping and facilitate harvesting.

PRUNING

This is considered by all farmers the most important operation that is conducted regularly to the date palm. Pruning is practiced by removal of old dead or broken leaves . The leaves are used as by-product for making crates, ropes and baskets, they also considered a good source of fuel for heating and cooking and even house construction. Using two types of tools used for pruning, Sickle which is a saw-toothed curved blade used to cut leaf bases, and Slanting curved cutting blade with a slight out curve and attached to a wooden handle, most of these tools are made locally. The purpose of pruning is to clean out the tree, allow new leaves to grow and photosynthesize, reduce rodent and insect infestation, facilitate harvesting, use of leaves as by-product material and make use of the fiber on the leaf base, and improving crop quality by reducing shade and bruising of fruits. When the palm is pruned, the offshoot and the rekab which is the sucker on the crown of the tree are also pruned.