Fresh winter dates arrive in UAE

Dates lovers who miss the fruit after the end of summer should no longer worry as large quantities are now in the local market in the middle of winter, a newspaper said on Monday.

The dates are harvested from UAE trees, not here but in Africa, where a local company has shipped thousands of native palm trees to Namibia for winter cultivation, 'Al Ittihad' said.

Aldahera Farming Company said the first shipment of fresh dates plucked from native UAE trees in Namibia has just arrived in the country and more would be brought in soon.

According to the company, the dates in Namibia become ripe and ready to be plucked in the first quarter of the year.

“This means we will be able to provide large quantities of fresh dates to the UAE people round the year through our farms there,” the Company’s CEO Mamoun Othman told 'Al Ittihad'.

He said the Company, a private sector venture, had planted nearly 25,000 palm trees in its farm in Namibia, producing in excess of 1,000 tonnes in every season. Production began in 2010 and the dates are shipped to the UAE by air to ensure they remain fresh.

“When they are plucked, they are then quickly boxed and transferred to the aircraft for same day delivery to the UAE,” he said.

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