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.

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.

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 publication provides a basic introduction to date palm propagation, production and protection techniques. Chapters cover: botanical and systematic description, origin, geographical distribution and nutritional value, economic importance, climatic requirements, orchard management, harvesting, and diseases and pests of date palm.

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.

The date palm has come of age. Cultivated for millennia in the arid regions of the world, from the Atlantic Ocean across North Africa, through the deserts of Arabia and into the Indus Valley, the importance of the date palm is being rediscovered. Its value as the sustaining pillar of market gardens in marginal agricultural communities cannot be overemphasized. Modern science and technology is also investigating the undisputed usefulness of the date palm in changing arid microclimates, increasing the potential for crop diversity and arresting desertification. Research is additionally directed at countering threats to the date palm emanating from disease and uninformed agricultural practices. As a tree that has emerged from ancient history into the modern world, the date palm is eliciting a great deal of interest in fields as diverse as biotechnology and international marketing. New markets for the date fruit are encouraging production, with the concomitant increase in technological innovation and economic investment. To explore the potential of the date palm and all aspects of its industry, The Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research hosted the International Date Palm Forum in Abu Dhabi, on September 15–17, 2002. This book represents a collection of expert papers on the full range of topics pertaining to the date palm, from its archaeology, cultivation and traditional uses, to international marketing and biotech applications in modern propagation methods and disease control. It provides a thorough overview for any reader wanting to gain insight into this industry, from its ancient roots to its modern day practices.