Dr Newton Jibunoh, the founder of Fight Against Desert Encroachment (FADE), once said that by 2015, some of the northern parts of Nigeria would become a desert, judging by the rate of desert encroachment in the country.

Several environmentalists have a similar viewpoint, stressing that at the current rate of desertification, a large percentage of arable lands in the northern parts of Nigeria would become arid and uncultivable, thereby threatening the country’s food security.

They emphasise that although the current tree planting campaign across the country is a panacea to the emerging environmental menace, the inclusion of date palm trees in the exercise will definitely produce more useful results.

Corroborating such claims, agricultural experts say that since date palm trees naturally thrive in the desert environment, they could effectively be used to curb desertification in the country, while serving as cash crop.

The agriculturists also insist that it is economically viable to plant trees which boost economic potential of the region, adding that the area’s farmers could earn some income from such tree-planting ventures.

Sharing similar sentiments, Mr Chukwuemeka Eke, a researcher in Nigeria Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR), said that date palm cultivation was a potent way to rein in desertification in desert-prone areas.

“The United Arab Emirates (Dubai) situation could be used to illustrate the benefits of date palm. In the Emirates, date palm cultivation was carried out with the aid of biotechnology to produce plantations that were used to eliminate desertification in the country.

“They have been able to transform almost all their desert into a very fruitful place; their strategy is to plant cultured date palm trees and initiate irrigation measures.

“If the Federal Government steps in and does the same thing, you would be surprised at the level of transformation that would come to our desert areas or regions facing desert encroachment.

“The support of government in this form of project is imperative because it involves not just planting crops in the desert land but it also entails some irrigation facilities,’’ he said.

Eke noted that date palm as a plant had a life span of more than 30 to 40 years with sustained reproduction, adding that date palm, which was mostly cultivated for its edible fruit, could grow up to between 70 and 75 feet in height, singly or in a clump.

He stressed that with biotechnology applications, date palm trees could be multiplied in its millions via the tissue culture; a collection of techniques used to maintain and grow plant cells.

“Cultivating this excellent crop is profitable and it will remove a lot of families from poverty and improve the livelihood of small-scale farmers in Nigeria.

“The crop will provide food and raw materials for domestic use, such as livestock supplements.

“It also has a lot of industrial potential for production of syrups, jam, ice cream, baby foods, alcoholic beverages and soft drinks,’’ he added.

Eke argued that date palm plantations could be a veritable source of livelihood for many people living in remote areas, while providing jobs for a considerable number of people in the rural areas.

He stressed that date palm cultivation was now less demanding, as NIFOR had be able to identify some date palm species which could mature within two years, as against the normal seven to 15 years.

He, nonetheless, conceded that the country’s date palm industry was facing some challenges in terms of low yield and packaging.

As part of efforts to address these challenges, the researcher said that NIFOR had been striving to develop packaging facilities to facilitate the commercialisation of locally produced date palm fruits.

Eke said that the date palm tree could tolerate relatively harsh climatic and soil conditions under which no other crop could give reasonable returns.

“Date palm tree is an irreplaceable tree in irrigable desert lands and it plays a vital role in efforts to stop desertification,’’ he added.

In the same vein, the National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology said in a report that its research had revealed that date palm cultivation would be a panacea to desertification because of the plant’s ability to adapt to desert environment.

It also said that the research found that date palm fruits had high nutritive and commercial value, while date palm trees played important roles in the ecology of various desert and semi-desert environments.

Consequently, Mr Leonard Ihase, a researcher, called on Federal Government to include date palm cultivation in its Agricultural Transformation Agenda so as to improve the livelihood of small-scale farmers and protect desert-prone areas.

He said that unlike the local date palm which would take many years to mature, the improved seedlings would start fruiting after two years, noting that one hectare of the seedlings could yield up to 10.8 million tonnes of fruits annually.

On the economics of date palm cultivation in the country, Ihase explained that planting the crop would also reduce the importation of date palm fruits from Dubai.

All in all, agronomists underscore the wisdom in promoting date palm cultivation in desert-prone areas across the country to curb the growing menace of desertification.

They also urge all the stakeholders in agriculture sector to give priority attention to date palm cultivation via biotechnology applications to curb desertification.

Obanda writes for News  Agency of Nigeria (NAN)

Kate Obande