Indians, including many from Telangana, make up a significant workforce for date palm cultivation in Saudi Arabia
Posted on – Wed 05 Apr 23 at 06:04pm
Jeddah: Dates are a staple food in the Arab world. For the rest of the world, it is associated with the month of Ramzan, as its popularity peaks during the holy month when Muslims like to break their fast with dates.
Dates are mentioned 22 times in the Qur’an, showing that the importance of the dried fruit is deeply ingrained in Islam. Dates were also one of the favorite and most desired foods of the Prophet Muhammad.
Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of Islam, not only the world’s largest oil producer, but also the world’s date palm producer. The kingdom harvests more than 300 varieties of dates across the country. The Khalas, Sukkari and Ajwa varieties are the most popular varieties. Saudi Arabia is also one of the major buyers of Indian dates.
The harvesting of dates is a major agricultural activity in Saudi Arabia, which is home to 33 million palm trees in more than 123,000 agricultural properties. Indians, including many from Telangana, make up a significant workforce in date palm cultivation.
For consumers, dates are rich in sugar and vitamins such as potassium and magnesium, but they are full of thorns like the thorns on a rose, but in a much larger size. Working on these farms is not easy and the frequent stabbing accidents are painful.
Mortad Sri Babu, a native of Darpalli Mandal in the Nizamabad district, has been harvesting dates in Saudi Arabia for over a decade.
“When the thorns pierce our arms and fingers, we can’t move our arms for three to four days because of the pain,” he said, adding that the workers also had brave snakes and scorpions.
There are 150 trees per acre and each tree yields about 5-6 boxes of dates, equivalent to about one quintal. The crops are harvested about four months before Ramzan.
“After the harvest cycle and production, we prefer to go back to our hometown where we can participate in the Dasara festival with our loved ones,” Babu said.
Babu is one of thousands of Telugu date farm workers in Saudi Arabia.
