Festival of dates launched in Al-Ahsa

Al-Ahsa farmers started reaping the dates of about 3 million palm trees in their region, coinciding with Al-Ahsa Date Festival 2016, which is being launched today by the region’s mayoralty at the King Abdullah City for Dates (KACD) in Al-Ahsa.
The festival is an opportunity for farmers to showcase the various kinds of the region’s dates and to promote the date sector through an exchange of experience and forging closer ties among farmers, producers and manufacturers. It is also an opportunity to promote Al-Ahsa dates in the Kingdom’s markets and abroad.
Specialists in the field said that this year’s festival is likely to achieve an unprecedented success in view of the quality and quantity of dates, and value of deals that will be concluded during the auction.
They forecast a 30 percent increase in the date price index over the previous year.
Ali Al Yassin, a date trader, said: “The date-harvest season will witness a rise in prices by 25-30 percent, accompanied by more selling opportunities due to a lack of dates in the storage refrigerators.”
Abdul Hamid Al-Holaibi, a member of the agricultural committee at Al-Ahsa Chamber of Commerce, said: “Last year, there was a lower quantity of dates stored than in other years, which means that there will be high demand in the coming period.”
Al-Holaibi said that the prices of dates are governed by the supply and demand mechanism; he praised the role played by Al-Ahsa Mayoralty in supporting and developing the date festival and auction, which will benefit farmers.
Mohammed Ismail, director of King Abdullah City for Dates, said: “Al-Ahsa Mayoralty spared no effort in promoting the date sector, which reflects the identity of the Saudi citizens and the long history of Al-Ahsa, the largest palms oasis in the world.”