This important reference book is the first comprehensive resource worldwide that reflects research achievements in date palm biotechnology, documenting research events during the last four decades, current status, and future outlook. This book is essential for researchers, policy makers, and commercial entrepreneurs concerned with date palm. The book is invaluable for date palm biotechnology students and specialists. This monument is written by an international team of experienced researchers from both academia and industry. It consists of five sections covering all aspects of date palm biotechnology including A) Micropropagation, B) Somaclonal Variation, Mutation and Selection, C) Germplasm Biodiversity and Conservation, D) Genetics and Genetic Improvement, and E) Metabolites and Industrial Biotechnology. The book brings together the principles and practices of contemporary date palm biotechnology. Each chapter contains background knowledge related to the topic, followed by a comprehensive literature review of research methodology and results including the authors own experience including illustrative tables and photographs.

This important 2-volume reference book is the first comprehensive resource reflecting the current global status and prospects of date palm cultivation by country. This volume covers Africa and the Americas. Countries included are: Egypt, Algeria, Sudan, Tunisia, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania, Niger, Cameroon, Djibouti, Chad, Mali Somalia, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso and Senegal, as well as the United States of America and the South American countries Chile and Peru. Topics discussed are: cultivation practices; genetic resources and breeding; conservation and germplasm banks; cultivar classification and identification based on morphological and molecular markers; micropropagation and progress toward scale-up production; and advances in dates processing and marketing. Chapters are supported by tables and color photographs. Appendixes summarize traits and distribution of major cultivars, commercial resources of offshoots and in vitro plants; and institutions and scientific societies concerned with date palm.

The book first summarizes the bioaccesibility of bioactive compounds in several Phoenix species, P. dactylifera, P. reclinata, P. sylvestris and P. loureiroi, to foster the integration of herbal and modern medicine. Date palm propagation means by conventional techniques, biotechnology tools, and maintenance of plant material in the greenhouse prior to field transfer are presented. An overview of field transfer of date palm vitro-plants is also provided. Following this, the authors discuss how experiments show that fertilizer addition is necessary for the improvement of date palm growth and increase of date fruits production. Date palm requires relatively great amounts of macro and micro nutrients to achieve good growth and give reasonable and economical production. Therefore, fertilization is one of the important practices that increases dates production and improves fruits quality. Artificial pollination is a distinguished and vital practice in commercial production of the date palm fruit. As such, the authors discuss how safe transfer of pollen grains to the female flower stigma at the proper condition is necessary in order for the ovule to be fertilized and the proper fruit set achieved. Date palm genetic resources have been preserved using in vitro micropropagation, and new elite cultivars are being produced using certain molecular breeding and biotechnological approaches. However, such measures are insufficient sustainable date palm production. This compilation proposes that it is time to introduce newly developed approaches such as high-throughput sequencing technologies, -omics technologies and CRISPR/Cas based approaches to revolutionize the date palm genetic improvement. Next, the authors discuss the most suitable irrigation water management strategy to minimize the effects of irrigation practices and future climate change on soil properties and on productivity of date palms. In the closing study, the effects of light and darkness on the germination and conversion of date palm somatic embryos to plants is studied. The observed results indicate that darkness is associated with increased proliferation and germination of somatic embryos.

This book is the first volume of a comprehensive assemblage of contemporary knowledge relevant to genomics and other omics in date palm. Volume 1 consists of 11 chapters arranged in 3 parts grouped according to subject. Part I, Biology and Phylogeny, focuses on date palm biology, evolution and origin. Part II, Biodiversity and Molecular Identification, covers conformity of in vitro derived plants, molecular markers, barcoding, pollinizer genetics and gender determination. Part III, Genome Mapping and Bioinformatics, addresses genome mapping of nuclear, chloroplast and mitochondrial DNA, in addition to a chapter on progress made in date palm bioinformatics. This volume represents the efforts of 30 international scientists from 10 countries and contains 78 figures and 30 tables to illustrate presented concepts. Volume 2 is published under the title: Omics and Molecular Breeding.

This important 2-volume reference book is the first comprehensive resource reflecting the current global status and prospects of date palm cultivation by country. This volume covers Asia and Europe. The Asian countries included are: Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Pakistan, Oman, Yemen, Israel, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Syria, Palestine and India. Europe is represented by Spain. Topics discussed are: cultivation practices; genetic resources and breeding; conservation and germplasm banks; cultivar classification and identification based on morphological and molecular markers; micropropagation and progress toward scale-up production; and advances in dates processing and marketing. Chapters are supported by tables and color photographs. Appendixes summarize traits and distribution of major cultivars, commercial resources of offshoots and in vitro plants; and institutions and scientific societies concerned with date palm.

Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is a tree belonging to the palm family (Arecaceae) and is cultivated for its sweet edible fruits. Over the past century, it has become a major commercial fruit crop and a key component of agricultural production in the world's subtropical arid and semiarid regions. A crop suited both to the low-input small-farmer and the modern high-input commercial plantation, the date palm provides a livelihood for millions of people living in marginal land areas where farming options are restricted. Date palm is mainly grown for its fruits, but the whole tree is utilized. Research into date palm improvement for fruit production in recent decades has brought about improved elite cultivars, stress and pathogen resistance, and enhanced postharvest technologies. These developments have led to revised recommendations for date palm producers, and increased opportunity to promote novel fruit products. With contributions from leading international experts, this is a valuable resource for researchers and students in horticulture, as well as date palm growers and processors.