His Excellency the Minister of Agriculture, Eng. Khaled Al-Hunaifat, announced in an official ceremony the launch of the 2024 date harvest season at the Agricultural Engineers Station in the Al-Karama area. The representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Amman, along with His Excellency the Secretary-General of the Jordan Valley Authority, Eng. Hisham Al-Haisa, His Excellency the President of the Agricultural Engineers Association, Eng. Ali Abu Nuqta, and the President of the General Union of Farmers, Mr. Awda Al-Rawashdeh, were also present. They also included a large number of Their Excellencies, former Ministers of Agriculture, members of the Jordan Dates Association, palm farmers, and the President of the Association, Eng. Anwar Haddad, as well as directors of agriculture and water in the Jordan Valley, a number of Ministry of Agriculture cadres, guests from outside the sector, and companies interested in the palm sector. During his speech, His Excellency affirmed that Jordan’s date production has reached approximately 35,000 tons, and that date exports have exceeded 50 million JOD . He also affirmed that Jordan’s date exports exceeded 50 percent of the total production, with a value of approximately 50 million dinars. He also noted that the date sector has become a model for comprehensive economic development through the industries based on this sector and the economic activity it generates. In turn, the Secretary-General of the Jordan Valley Authority, Hisham Al-Haisa, said that the Jordan Valley Authority has paid great attention to the palm tree sector, and today we are happy to begin harvesting the palm tree crop, which provides employment opportunities for the people of the Jordan Valley. He added the Jordan Valley Authority has allocated a special budget to provide palm tree farmers during the peak period, and today we are reaping the harvest of the palm tree season in true partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Jordan Dates Association (JODA). He pointed out that the authority is working on several projects to improve water supply in the Jordan Valley and find other solutions to provide irrigation water for agriculture and allow the exploitation of groundwater. He added the palm sector has become a milestone in the growth and development of agriculture in Jordan, as the area planted with palm trees in the Jordan Valley now constitutes approximately 20 percent of the cultivated area. He noted the volume of investment in the palm sector has exceeded half a billion dollars. He explained that Jordanian Mejhoul dates have become a prominent trademark in the international market, and demand for them is doubling year after year, as evidenced by the fact that nothing remains of last season’s production, and most of our production for the new season has been contracted locally and abroad. He pointed out that the association, in cooperation with the relevant authorities, has completed the national strategy for the palm sector until 2030, which includes the axes of the plan to position Jordanian dates in the international market, the national plan to combat the red palm weevil, and the establishment of an international festival for Jordanian dates. For his part, the President of the General Union of Farmers in Jordan, Mr. Awda Al-Rawashdeh, said that the date sector provides thousands of permanent job opportunities for workers, technicians, and engineers, in addition to significant job opportunities for women in the fields of packaging. He explained that there are still challenges facing this sector, such as a labor shortage and climate change, which has affected production, both quantitatively and qualitatively, and has created numerous agricultural pests that have harmed production. He added all forms of support must be provided to this sector, including the need to review policies related to foreign labor to solve the problem of the agricultural labor shortage. Engineer Anwar Haddad, Chairman of the Jordan Dates Association (JODA), said, “In cooperation with the Jordan Valley Authority, we have been able to establish general principles for improving the efficiency of irrigation water use in the palm tree sector. We have also introduced the world’s most advanced mechanization of post-harvest operations, enabling us to sort, pack, and prepare our entire date production using the latest automated technologies.” He noted that the association has been able to convince the government to reduce the sales tax on dates from 10% to 2% over the last four years, exempt most production inputs needed for palm trees from sales tax, and exempt investment requirements in this sector from customs duties. Engineer Anwar Haddad, Chairman of the association, concluded his remarks by saying, “We celebrate this annual occasion, Jordanian Date Harvest Day, as a symbol of the end of the season and the beginning of the new one. This reflects our determination to continue production, growth, and development in this important sector, which has become a milestone in the growth and development of agriculture in Jordan.” On behalf of all palm farmers in Jordan, he thanked His Excellency the Minister of Agriculture, the Secretary-General of the Jordan Valley Authority, the Khalifa International Award, the FAO, and local, regional, and international partners for their support of this sector. At the end of the ceremony, the General Union of Farmers, the FAO, and the Jordan Valley Agriculture Directorate (Palm Division) were honored for their efforts in serving the agricultural sector and palm harvesting.
