Saudi Arabia ranks first in the world in date exports
More than 300 different species of dates are produced and exported by Saudi Arabia, according to the country’s Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture, with an annual production topping 1.54 million tons.
According to information published on the TradeMab website of the World Trade Center, it ranked first among 113 nations in the world for date exports in terms of value during 2021.
The value of Saudi exports of dates reached 1.215 billion riyals, which contributed to making the dates sector one of the most important sectors that contribute to increasing national investments and exports to countries of the world.
A report issued by the ministry as part of the “It’s Time” campaign, which aims to spread knowledge of agricultural products, confirmed that the date production season starts from June until November in various regions.
The Ministry is working to make Saudi Arabia the largest exporter of dates in the world, by promoting the Saudi dates brand by improving the quality of production on farms by following good agricultural practices.
33 million palm trees
Saudi Arabia also hosts more than 33 million palm trees, while the number of holdings has reached more than 123,000 agricultural holdings, distributed in 13 administrative regions.
The ministry is working to find an integrated system of agricultural, logistical, marketing, and knowledge services and to adopt modern technologies to achieve production efficiency and increase the rate of consumption of Saudi dates locally and globally.
The Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture has contributed to supporting the palm and dates sector at the international level through initiatives in coordination with international organizations.
It succeeded in registering dates as an “unusual fruit” (super fort) with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
The Ministry’s initiatives included the entry of the germplasm bank for date palm varieties into the Guinness Book of Records for the largest number of palm varieties with 127 varieties.
Saudi Arabia was also accredited by the Codex Alimentarius Committee as co-chair of the team for preparing date specifications globally.
It contributed to the establishment of the World Dates Conference, and the announcement of the establishment of the International Date Council, headed by Saudi Arabia, in February 2022.
