A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE PERFORMANCE OF SOFT TYPE DATE GROWN IN ARID ENVIRONMENT

The objective of this study was to evaluate the behaviour of Zaghloul cultivar (soft type date) at an area known for dry type (Aswan, south of Egypt). A comparative study was made for such cultivar in relation to different environments of northern and central Nile delta, Giza and central Egypt (Assiut). This evaluation included A) vegetative parameters such as height and girth of palm trunk, number of yearly produced leaves and leaf morphology (length of leaf leaflet), B) flowering and fruit set parameters such as date of spath bursing, spathe morphology (length and diameter) and initial and horticulture fruit set, C) fruit development and physical and chemical characteristics and D) yield parameters including harvesting date, bunch number per palm, bunch weight (kg) and estimated yield per palm. The data of the present study indicated that Zaghloul fruiting-when compared with earlier studies- was 20, 37, 39 and 71 days earlier than same cultivar when grows under Assiut, Giza, Qalyobia and Beheira Governroates, respectively. Yield components (average bunch weight at harvest) were lower in Aswan when compared with those of same cultivar at Northern Governorate. Most of vegetative characteristics of Zaghloul cv. were not influenced. Zaghloul at Northern areas had higher scores in fruit quality and yield meanwhile it lacks values in earliness and flesh weight % which were lower at Aswan. Therefore, for horticulturists to grow soft type dates in arid areas should expect low productivity or yield (by 50%) and some other poor quality (high seed weight and fibers content) but in return they can overcome such shortages as they would produce an extremely earlier crop