Saudi Gazette report BURAIDAH — Al-Qassim Region, in Central Saudi Arabia, is witnessing a flurry of economic activity in preparation for the dates harvesting season this year. The region has over 8 million date palms. The date palm is distinct due to its fruit. Since ancient times, dates were a major source of food due to their long life and the date palm trees being in conformity with the geology of the region. Its fruit is a source of protein, fats, and minerals, apart from benefiting from parts of the date palm in the daily life needs and traditional industries. The date palm farmers compete with one another to produce the best quality dates among the many kinds of dates, exceeding 38. This is at a time when the local promotional awards and prizes, under the auspices of the Emir of Al-Qassim Region, have caused the date farmers to seek excellence to reach the level of model farms. At the same time, the date farms occupying large stretches of land in Al-Qassim is in tandem with the care and attention the branch of the Ministry of the Environment, Water, and Agriculture (MEWA) in Al-Qassim accords to various aspects of date farming. The ministry provides such care with the aim of developing the methods of farming and protecting date palms from plant diseases and harmful insects, hence resulting in growing and harvesting high-quality dates. It is noteworthy that Al-Qassim Region is well known for date palm farming that supplies the Kingdom and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries with the best quality dates. In this regard, Saudi Arabia occupies the second place in the world in the production of dates, which forms 25 percent of the global date production. The Kingdom produces 1.07 million tons from a total area cultivated with date palms estimated at 172,000 hectares at the rate of 6.2 tons per hectare. Hence, this has qualified Saudi Arabia to occupy the second position in the world in the production of dates. Al-Qassim Region has many date markets in various areas, especially in the Buraidah area where there are many date palms. Qassimi dates are in demand, especially from within the Kingdom and the GCC countries, and with the harvesting period drawing near, there is a flurry of activity to get ready to collect the dates during the harvest.