NO FEAR OF HEIGHTS: Hard at work with Iraq’s thriving date palm sector

By Ali Riyad in Baghdad

As a child Hamza Majid, a young man from the Al Madain district in Baghdad, was afraid of heights. As he grew he conquered that fear and now he is a skilled climber of date palms, able to scale a tall tree in minutes.

These days he even prefers a taller palm to a shorter one. “I love climbing the tall palms,” he says. “They’re not only easier for me than the short ones but they also offer me a chance to enjoy a nice view. This is like a natural masterpiece with no equal.”

Every morning before work, Majid prepares his tools: his “tabeela” for climbing, a knife for trimming the palm trunks, and a picker for harvesting the dates.

Iraq has over 22 million date palms and date palm climbers are a vital part of the agricultural workforce, especially in the central and southern regions of the country.

The wages from the job are enough to provide for his family, Majid says proudly.

“Our work is divided into seasons,” Majid continues. “The cleaning and trimming season starts in the fall and extends through winter, followed by a rest period before the real challenge begins with pollination season in the spring.”

Pollination is critical for ensuring ongoing date production and involves pollen from male trees being transferred to female trees to facilitate fruiting. This process typically occurs between March and April but the timing varies depending on regional climate.

The pollination season is a crucial stage in Hamza’s work. “It’s the most important phase because it determines both the quality and quantity of the harvest,” he says.

There are other challenges to date palm growers in Iraq.

The sector has shrunk over the decades. In the 1970s, Iraq had over 50 million date palms, but wars and economic hardships reduced that to 16 million by 2014.

Recent initiatives by the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture have started to reverse this trend. By 2023, the number of date palms in Iraq surpassed 22 million and there are plans to increase them to 30 million in the near future.

There are also more workaday challenges. For example, there are many more female date palms than male and a shortage of pollen from male palms means that Majid is forced to buy it from more distant markets.

Unpredictable weather also causes problems. Heavy rains or strong winds mean pollination may not take place.

There are also fewer date palm climbers around and farmers are forced to hire climbers from further away.

After the pollination season ends, Majid’s focus shifts to harvesting, which starts in late summer. In the orchards surrounding Baghdad, he works with a team divided into three. One group collects fallen dates, another cleans the crop, and the third packages the dates for sale.

Now that his fear of heights is gone, there are other dangers though. Majid often encounters scorpions, snakes, and hornets and must also deal with strong winds that threaten to throw him out of the tree he’s climbing.

At other times, there are moments of beauty. Majid has found canary nests in the trees and says he sometimes stops working on a particular tree so that the nests are not disturbed.

To Majid, date palms are more than just trees. They’re also a symbol of his heritage and identity. An expert in palm types, dates and various harvesting methods, he takes great pride in this impressive agricultural sector.  

Iraq has about 600 varieties of date, he enthuses. “Among these varieties, ‘barhi’ dates are known for their sweetness and high value while ‘zahdi’ dates are prized for their high yield,” he explains. “Meanwhile ‘khustawi’ dates are preferred in winter due to their unique flavour.”