Diversity and Nutritional Properties of Pakistani Dates: Implications for Sustainable Value Chain and Decent Living Perspectives of Rural Households
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Diversity and nutritional properties of Pakistani dates: implications for sustainable value chain and decent living perspectives of rural households Ghayoor Fatima Diversity and nutritional properties of Pakistani dates: implications for sustainable value chain and decent living perspectives of rural households Ghayoor Fatima Dissertation presented to the Faculty of Organic Agricultural Sciences Organic Plant Production and Agroecosystems Research in the Tropics and Subtropics (OPATS) University of Kassel 2016 This work has been accepted by the Faculty of Organic Agricultural Sciences of the University of Kassel, Germany, as a thesis for acquiring the academic degree of Doktor der Agrarwissenschaften (Dr. agr.). Ghayoor Fatima Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Andreas Bürkert, University of Kassel Co-supervisor: Prof. Dr. Iqrar Ahmad Khan, University of Agriculture Faisalabad Examiner: Prof. Dr. Beatrice Knerr, University of Kassel Examiner: Prof. Dr. Michael Wachendorf, University of Kassel Defense day: 15th January 2016 Table of contents Table of contents.................................................................................................................. i List of tables ....................................................................................................................... iv List of figures ..................................................................................................................... vi Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................... viii Summary ............................................................................................................................. x Zusammenfassung ........................................................................................................... xii 1 General introduction, objectives, and hypotheses ..................................................... 1 1.1 General introduction ............................................................................................... 2 1.1.1 World cultivation of date palm ........................................................................ 2 1.1.2 Cultivation of date palm in Pakistan ............................................................... 3 1.1.3 Socio-economic and traditional importance of date palm and its by-products . 5 1.1.4 Value chain and decent work ......................................................................... 6 1.1.5 Nutritional importance of dates ....................................................................... 7 1.1.6 History of date palm cultivation ...................................................................... 8 1.2 Research objectives and hypotheses ................................................................... 10 2 Domestication and origin of date palm in the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia based on archaeobotanical, historical, and genetic evidence .............. 11 2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 12 2.2 Middle East ........................................................................................................... 17 2.3 North Africa ........................................................................................................... 21 2.4 South Asia ............................................................................................................ 24 2.5 Conclusions and way forward ............................................................................... 25 3 Socio-economic characterisation of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) growers and value chain of dates in Pakistan ......................................................................... 27 3.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 28 3.2 Materials and methods ......................................................................................... 30 3.2.1 Study area ................................................................................................... 30 i 3.2.2 Data collection ............................................................................................. 33 3.2.3 Statistical analysis ........................................................................................ 34 3.3 Results ................................................................................................................. 35 3.3.1 Grower characteristics ................................................................................. 35 3.3.2 Income strategies......................................................................................... 36 3.3.3 Value chain of date palm .............................................................................. 39 3.3.4 Cropping practices ....................................................................................... 43 3.3.5 Grower constraints ....................................................................................... 45 3.4 Discussion ............................................................................................................ 47 3.4.1 Grower characteristics ................................................................................. 47 3.4.2 Income strategies......................................................................................... 47 3.4.3 Value chain of date palm .............................................................................. 48 3.4.4 Cropping practices ....................................................................................... 50 3.4.5 Grower constraints ....................................................................................... 51 3.5 Conclusions .......................................................................................................... 52 4 Effect of soil characteristics and date palm morphological diversity on nutritional composition of Pakistani dates................................................................ 56 4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 57 4.2 Materials and methods ......................................................................................... 59 4.2.1 Study area ................................................................................................... 59 4.2.2 Nutritional analysis of dates ......................................................................... 60 4.2.3 Soil analysis ................................................................................................. 61 4.2.4 Morphological analysis ................................................................................. 63 4.2.5 Statistical analysis ........................................................................................ 63 4.3 Results ................................................................................................................. 65 4.4 Discussion ............................................................................................................ 74 4.5 Conclusions .......................................................................................................... 78 ii 5 General discussion, conclusions, and recommendations ....................................... 84 5.1 General discussion ............................................................................................... 85 5.1.1 Date palm cultivation and marketing ............................................................ 85 5.1.2 Nutritional properties of dates ...................................................................... 87 5.1.3 Role of date palm for rural development ...................................................... 87 5.1.4 Problems of the date palm sector in Pakistan .............................................. 89 5.2 Conclusions .......................................................................................................... 90 5.3 Recommendations ................................................................................................ 91 References ........................................................................................................................ 92 Affidavit ........................................................................................................................... 113 iii List of tables Serial Page Title number number 1 Early occurrence of date palm in the Middle East. 9 2 Comparison of seeds sizes of different eras (Adapted form Beech, 2003). 20 3 Biophysical characteristics of the six date producing districts in the tropical 31 desert climate zone of during 2012-2013. 4 Major annual and perennial field crops and fruits produced by 170 date palm 32 growers in six districts of Pakistan, interviewed during 2012-2013. 5 Household (HH) characteristics of 170 date palm growers in four provinces 35 (Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, and Baluchistan) of Pakistan, interviewed during 2012-2013. 6 Income characteristics of 170 date palm growers in four provinces (Punjab, 37 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Baluchistan) of Pakistan, interviewed during 2012-2013. 7 Farm type and usage of date palm fruit and by-products of 170 date palm 39 growers (small scale (SS) date palm growers who cultivated an average of 103 (±99) mature date palms; medium scale (MS) growers with 812 (±237) mature date palms, and large scale (LS) growers with 1721 (±244) mature