Harvesting season fuels Madinah Date Market

The central Madinah Date Market is witnessing an uptick in activity as the fruit’s harvesting season in Saudi Arabia continues apace.

The harvesting of date palms begins in the first quarter of June every year across 29,000 farms in the region.

The market is characterized by the variety of types of fresh dates on offer, which are famous in Madinah and its governorates, including Routhana, Rabia, Halia, Suwaidaa, Halwa, Lona Musaid and others.

High temperatures affect the speed of ripening at the first stage of the harvesting process, which continues until the end of July. Following that, the date harvesting process begins, lasting until the end of August, when farmers start displaying their dates in the market. Varieties include Ajwa, Safawi, Amber, Medjool, Barhi, and others.

The Saudi Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture has intensified inspection activities to monitor the operational status of the central date market, to ensure technical and health requirements are met and to verify the quality of produce.

This contributes to exports of dates and their products, and highlights the palm and date sector as one of the main agricultural production sectors in the Kingdom, in line with the goals of Saudi Vision 2030.