AL AHSA PALM GROVE

The Al-Ahsa palm grove stretches northeast of Al Hofuf over almost 4,000 hectares. Self-declared the world's largest oasis, it has been a Unesco World Heritage Site since 2018. The date palms are wisely arranged behind low walls. They are supplied with water by a network of canals that criss-cross the area. In the past, the Al-Ahsa oasis was fed by 160 natural springs. The trees are spaced 6 meters apart to allow the palms to flourish. When they reach 10 to 12 meters, they are uprooted, as the fruit is of inferior quality. There are more than 3 million of these trees, which produce khalas dates in particular. Oblong, brown and fleshy, they are harvested between late September and mid-October. This is when the palm groves come to life and the boxes pile up in the fields. The dates are harvested by hand by a skilled workforce. While one man climbs to the top of the tree, his colleagues place a large tarpaulin at the foot of the palm. The harvester cuts the branches loaded with date bunches. Each cluster can bear up to a hundred fruits. The bunches are then shelled by hand and the fruit placed in cardboard boxes, originally designed to carry bananas. Farmers use these boxes because each one, when filled, weighs exactly 20 kg. The dates are then transported to a packing plant and shipped across the country. Khala dates are unique in that they are pressed.