Can dates grow in Goa? ICAR visits Kutch for clues

PANAJI: The climatic conditions of Kutch, Gujarat coupled with its topography of sandy soil make many parts of the coastal district favourable for the cultivation of date trees. A team of scientists from the Goa-based ICAR-Central Coastal Agricultural Research Institute (CCARI) recently visited the Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural University (SDAU) in Kutch to tap the area for potential research.
They examined the region’s crops, soil terrain and other aspects and are likely to explore the possibility of growing dates in Goa.
“Palm trees grow well in both Goa and Kutch. While arecanut and coconut trees grow well in Goa, date palms grow well in Kutch,” director of ICAR-CCARI, EB Chakurkar explained.
Kutch is one of the largest producer of dates in India with 19 lakh trees cultivated over 10,000 hectare land. There are two kinds of colours in the Indian date variety: red and yellow.
The red one is sweeter but the yellow is tastier, the experts said.
The otherwise desert crop needs close attention paid to the quantity of water given to each date tree for its successful cultivation in coastal states. ICAR experts said that good water drainage is required to avoid water stagnation, especially considering Goa’s heavy monsoon rains.
“In Saudi Arabia or Dubai, there is sandy soil which leads to proper drainage of water. The same is the case with the date trees in Kutch,” Chakurkar said adding that his team, lead by principal scientist (horticulture), ICAR-CCARI, A R Desai will explore the farming technologies adopted by SDAU to replicate date cultivation in Goa according to the state’s climatic condition and soil type. “Unlike Goa, Kutch sees very low rainfall with hardly 2 to 3mm of rain despite it being a coast al region. There are different weather and soil conditions in India. Unless we see these situations, we cannot learn from them,” he said.
“Our institute is working on this at all coastal areas and organisations there to explore the possibilities of research so as to improve the agriculture productivity of the institute.” he added.