WAM Abu Dhabi, May 23rd, 2012 (WAM) -- The Municipality of Abu Dhabi City has recently held a workshop about the calendar of date palm (DP) care '&' services in Abu Dhabi city, attended by engineers from Parks '&' Recreational Facilities Division (PRFD) along with consultants '&' contractors concerned with the upkeep of date palm trees.

The Workshop was held in the context of upgrading care '&' maintenance processes of plantation projects with the aim of enhancing the performance quality and maintenance works in keeping with the Municipality's social responsibility and vision of ensuring a superior living and sustainable environment for the residents of Abu Dhabi city.

The Workshop was presented by Dr. Abdul Sattar Salih Al Mashhadani, Landscape Expert, PRFD, who started by recalling the importance of the blessed DP tree, which is mentioned in the holy Quran and Sunnah, and held a comparison between the DP tree and humans pointing to a variety of common characteristics highlighted by the eternal giving, should proper care be provided.

During the Workshop, Al Mashhadani narrated the recent varieties of DP trees cultivated in the UAE, and classification according to their fruits maturity. Then he elaborated and illustrated the processes '&' services made for DP care such as ; irrigation, DP clean '&' their basins, zone, weeding, fertilization, pollination, and pruning (frond's '&' Spine's removal, offshoot's pullout) in addition to fruit thinning techniques (strands and bunches) and cut or wound area treatment.

He gave an elaborate explanation of the importance of Bunch spreading, bunch curving, Fruit Bagging and preparing for yield harvesting processes, which begin once some varieties entering the early Khalal stage (Bisser), followed by the early maturing stage (Rutab) before being dried up and losing their marketable value. Then he presented to the audience a calendar for performing all these processes throughout the year, and screened their views about its implementation.

To replace the notion that "Each disease or pest has a pesticide" by the concept that "Each disease has its causes which should be prevented", Al Mashhadani invited the attention of the audience to the need of periodic checking and ensuring the proper care processes are made according to schedule, since they constitute the backbone of mechanical and biological prevention of pathogens of diseases as well as insects at all stages.

At the end of the Workshop, some of the mistaken practices in the care and maintenance processes of DP trees were reviewed along with the procedures of employing them positively for the benefit of the DP tree through attending to the deliverables of workshops and training sessions held by the PRFD Division as regards the optimal care '&' maintenance of city greenery in general, including DP trees, with a view to upgrading the professionalism of personnel in performing all processes at site.

WAM/AM