Date harvest coincides with Ramadan this year

It is officially the dates season in Madinah with farmers recently completing their harvesting.
Dates are an important agricultural product in Madinah. The price of a 2 kg box at the beginning of the season is SR 40. Prices vary according to the quality of the harvest.
Many varieties of dates can be found in Madinah markets including Al-Rothana, Al-Rabeia, Al-Sukari, Al-Beid and Al-Hilwah. Demand for frozen dates is not high this year because the date harvest coincides this year with the beginning of Ramadan, which means people can get fresh dates for breaking their fast.
Salesmen and auctioneers have been competing to buy the date harvest, which has resulted in a significant rise in prices. “High prices has resulted from the monopolization of the high-quality date harvest and transporting 40 percent of the harvest to Jeddah, Makkah and the rest of the Kingdom in small trucks,” said Muslim Al-Saidi, a date auctioneer.
Farmers are worried their harvest may be ruined because of the scarce availability of workers, as a result of the end of the amnesty period.
Naif, a palm farmer, said he sold his dates this year for SR 45,000. “The rising profit resulted from an increase in palm trees. Farmers take great care of their palm farms because they have high financial returns. We like to plant Al-Rothana, Ajwah, Anbar, Safawi and Al-Sukari because these are the dates with the commercial value.”
Ahmad Al-Maghthowi, owner of a small truck, said: “The date harvest is important because it provides jobs for many young men during the summer holiday. Young people can load and unload dates, sell them or transport them to different parts of the Kingdom in their small vehicles. I have an agreement with an investor to transport the harvest from Madinah to Jeddah for SR 400 per cargo.”
Samir, a buyer, said: “Buyers like to buy large amounts of dates, either for their private consumption or as gifts. These can be frozen and served during Ramadan. At the beginning of the season, prices were very high, but the price of Al-Rothana and Al-Rabeia are reasonable because of the high production and availability on the market. The best harvest comes from Qibaa, Al-Awali, Al-Shuhadaa, Al-Mattar and Al-Oyoon farms.”
Hamid Allheibi, a date store owner, said investors are active during the date season. “They start freezing dates in containers of different sizes to sell in bulk during Ramadan. Average prices are about SR 15 a kilogram. Investors like to freeze Al-Rothana and Al-Beid.”
Farmers like to plant Ajwah dates, because it has many qualities as defined by the Prophet (peace be upon him). It is sold for SR 70 to SR 100 a kilogram. They also like to plant Al-Anbarah, Al-Safawi and Al-Shalabi dates.