As fall draws closer every year in late September Palestinian farmer Mohammed El-Agha prepares himself along with his cousins to start the harvest season.
Close to the Khan Younis beach in the southern Gaza Strip Mohammed meets with his relatives in the morning hours where the golden sun is seen on palm trees hanging like a shy bride who prepares for her wedding day.
After wearing Al-Mutlaa he climbs the palm meeting his cousin Ahmad who climbs the opposite tree which is about three meters tall.
El-Agha puts his feet carefully on the trunk of the palm using his Mutlaa with which he built a relationship like a mother to her child embracing him and fearing that he might fall down.
In their land surrounded by tall palm trees in the Al-Mawasi area west of Khan Younis Mohammed begins his work after holding his hatchet to cut the date clusters hanging around his waist a bowl to put the reaped dates carefully using a sloping rope after shaking the clusters.
Amid the atmosphere of joy and happiness and the exchange of jokes and laughter among the young men who took this profession from their grandparents and ancestors Mohammed and Ahmed continue to shake clusters sending them downwards where their other cousin professionally holds a rope surrounding a cluster of dates.
Despite the low prices in the markets the dates’ season gives a push for farmers in the Gaza Strip providing them with a steady income that help them continue their agricultural activities for the rest of the year.
The harvest season which is known for many agricultural areas in the governorates of the Gaza Strip starts in late September and many farmers depend on it for its variety of produce especially sales and manufacturing.
El-Agha notes that his family members gather and each of them does a specific job when the harvested amounts of dates are gathered. Women and some boys separate the good produce from the bad one in boxes designated for this purpose.
He said that the season is an opportunity to generate some easy financial income to support family members. However he continued “The income from dates is low due to low prices compared to other fruits.”
El-Agha describes the atmosphere of the harvest of dates with joy because it provides happiness among the family as everyone does a task entrusted to him/her.
He pointed out that the farmers in general do not rely on palm trees as a source of income; because of its low prices compared to the actual cost.
In light of the severe economic crisis in the Gaza Strip El-Agha is pessimistic about the inability to promote the produce in addition to the salty water used to irrigate it.
The Undersecretary at the Ministry of Agriculture in Gaza Ibrahim al-Qudra confirmed that this season in the year is good pointing out that the high temperatures made it start two weeks early.
He noted “The season came early this year and despite the difficult situation this gives a push for farmers locally.” There are 12000 tons of dates’ production from an area of 11500 dunums of which 8000 dunums is productive.”
He pointed out that his ministry is monitoring the farmers and guiding them to achieve better production noting that it prevented the importation of yellow dates to give a boost for the local red dates.
