Robert R. Krueger published Date Palm Status and Perspective in the United States around 2015. Herein, he discusses significant developments in the American date palm industry: past, present, and future. The introduction details the dispersal and arrival in America of dates which are natives of present day Iran and Iraq. Significantly, this part looks at the development of the American date industry noting the Coachella Valley in California as the primary production area and Deglet Noor and Medjool as the most successful cultivars there (Krueger, 2015). Other production areas include: Death Valley; San Diego and Imperial counties in California. The success of dates in Yuma County, Coachella and Bard valleys is due to the availability of specific climatic conditions necessary for production.
According to Krueger (2015), America’s date palm market faces both economic and cultural challenges. Economically, developing the American date is severely limited by the fact that Americans generally do not consume dates, creating the need for both domestic and international markets to keep up with production increases. Furthermore, American date production is costlier than those of other date producing countries thus making American dates unaffordable to the mostly poor date consumers globally. Notably, input, and fixed costs contribute significantly to the high production costs in the US (Krueger, 2015). Primarily, dates are for fresh consumption though small amounts are processed.
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The bulk of Krueger’s article looks at the production practices, handling, and research in the American date industry (Krueger, 2015). He observes that research has played a significant role in the developments within this industry. Specifically, the work of Roy Nixon was fundamental to the research on improving date production in the US (Krueger, 2015). Here, Krueger (2015) investigates the historical and modern practices, notes the various pests that endanger production and details some of the conditions required for production. Again, Krueger details the work that made available and currently conserves date palm genetic resources. Compared to other date palm producing nations, production in the US is heavily mechanized but not enough to change the labor-intensive nature of the production process. For example, during harvesting, workers are raised on lifts into the tree’s crowns. Krueger (2015) notes the different processing and packing processes applied to dates based on their uses.
According to Krueger (2015), American date production is largely a niche affair due to the limited availability of geographically suitable production areas. While he acknowledges the expansions in recent decades, he maintains that those developments as well as similar ones in the future will not change the small nature of this American industry. Significantly, Krueger (2015) observes that dates have been naturalized to the extent of contributing to the local economy society and cultures of low desert areas.
Still, he notes that the high quality of these dates is what sustains that contribution and earmarks the Medjool variety to spearhead future expansion. Then again, he notes that future expansion will likely be limited by the availability of suitable geographical conditions. Here, he notes the impacts of continued urbanization in the Coachella Valley (Krueger, 2015). He attributes the increased cost of both land and labor to this trend. Further, Krueger states that the industry must maintain efficient production methods and quality produce for sustainability. He argues for increased efficiency as the basis for sustainable profit making in the American date industry and the basis of sustaining the entire industry. Therefore, improved production efficiency will keep dates as part of the economic, cultural, and social fabric of America’s low desert communities.
Reference
Krueger, R., R. (2015). Date Palm Status and Perspective in the United States. Springer . Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-017-9694-1_14 . Retrieved on September 9, 2018.
