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Agriculture

Agriculture, as the second largest industry in the Coachella Valley, ranks within the top 10 agricultural areas in California. Home to the first table grapes of the summer season, it is also the nation’s largest date-growing region. During May and June, the fields overflow with red, yellow and green peppers; seedless watermelon; cantaloupe; eggplant and the first sweet corn of the season.

Rich Crop Diversity
Recent data shows that the above mentioned crops alone accounted for more than half of all the agricultural production value ($271 million) in the Coachella and almost a quarter of the entire production value for Riverside County. In recent years, the production value for the Coachella Valley exceeded $500 million ($503,523,700) for the first time ever. This value is more than the entire agricultural production value of 40 of the 58 counties in California. The Coachella Valley vegetable crop value accounted for $213.4 million, the tree and vine crop value was $138.6 million, the nursery stock value was $86.4 million, while the citrus crops were valued at $63.6 million.

With its ideal climate and conditions for growing dates, the Coachella Valley produces 95 percent of all dates grown in the United States.

Why the Coachella Valley?
Dates require special environmental conditions to produce fruit—hot, arid weather but plenty of ground water. Therefore, dates can only be grown in a few places in the United States. Coachella Valley has the ideal environment.

Dates that come from the Coachella Valley are among the freshest and finest quality in the world. USDA-inspected California dates consistently offer superior quality and appearance compared to imported dates.

How Dates are Grown and Harvested
Date palms are grown either from offshoots of the mother tree or from seeds. To ensure desired qualities, most commercial date trees are grown from offshoots. The scientific name for commercially grown date palms is Phoenix diactylifera, feather palms that may grow 100 feet or more planted in gardens or orchards. Since date palms are dioecious—male and female—commercial date gardens have one male tree and up to 50 female trees per acre. Females bear the fruit; males produce pollen.

Date palms are said to live with “their feet in water and their heads in the sun,” which means they must have plenty of ground water, yet thrive in arid, high heat to produce fruit. This is why date palms grow only in hot, dry desert climates throughout the world.

Though the date palm is drought resistant, it uses ground water lavishly and needs regular irrigation to produce a good commercial crop. Paper cones placed over ripening bunches help protect from wind, rain and insects.

Dates ripen in six to seven months, harvested from September through December. Date harvesters, or palmeros, climb up ladders or are lifted by mechanical lifts or towers high into the tops of mature trees. Hand harvested dates are picked into flat baskets that are lowered to the ground where the fruit is transferred to wooden boxes and hauled to the packinghouse.

Nutritious Dates Every Day
Coachella Valley dates are full of energy-producing carbohydrates, fiber, vitamin B complex, antioxidants and other minerals, while low in sodium, cholesterol and fat, with no trans fat. And five dates contain more potassium than a medium banana.

Rich in flavor, dates can provide that subtle “secret ingredient” that brings out the best in a prized dish. Dates complement many other fruits and vegetables, and they pair with seafood and meats for surprising combinations.

Semi-dry dates (such as the Deglet Noor and the Zahidi) are good for snacking, cooking and baking. Soft dates (such as Medjhool, Khadrawy and Halawy) are great for snacking and for use in sauces. California dates are inspected and certified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as meeting rigorous quality standards.

• Current harvested acreage is running about 6,000, and the total planned acreage is 7,300.

• Production volume in 2005 was 33 million pounds.

• Production value in 2005 was $34 million.

• Deglet Noor is approximately 95 percent of the total crop in the Coachella Valley.

• Medjhools represent about four percent and the other one percent is the lesser varieties.

• The Coachella Valley grows approximately 95 percent of the total date crop in the United States. The other five percent is in Bard, near Yuma, Arizona. They grow only Medjhools.