Date Cultivation in Arizona and the Bard Valley

Abstract

Dates have been grown for several thousand years, and are suited to the harsh climate of the desert. They have several botanical characteristics that are uncommon, such as the fact that they are dioecious and exhibit unusual phyllotaxy. While date palms were first propagated as seed in the United States, by the turn of the 19 ^thCentury, extensive numbers of offshoots were imported from the Middle East and North Africa. The Arizona date industry was first established in the central part of the state, but it eventually failed due to adverse weather conditions and urbanization. Meanwhile a small industry, based on the ‘Medjool’ date, was founded in Bard, California. This industry has now expanded and returned to Arizona and is modernizing rapidly.