Festival at Al-Ahsa boosts date prices

The revenues of Al-Ahsa’s first date festival were “gratifying, as the increased prices benefited the farmers who have suffered losses for several years,” said an official. The prices during the festival were 100% higher than in recent years.
Fahd bin Mohammad Al-Jubair, the mayor of Al-Ahsa and vice chairman of the festival’s organizing committee, said some brokers and date traders controlled the supply in markets. This caused acute declines in date prices, which influenced the farmers’ revenues.
“Thanks to the festival, farmers were assisted in preserving the country’s most important agricultural product,” he said.
Al-Ahsa Gov. Prince Badr bin Mohammad bin Jluwi ordered the festival and the mayor’s office organized it, in partnership with the Tourism Development Council.
Al-Jubair said the thorough organization and quality control in the event was a sign for farmers to exhibit their best products and for traders not to manipulate the prices. High quality dates at reasonable prices were a result of this. “Higher prices will benefit farmers and the economy and help sustain the cultivation and production of palm trees in the country.”
Al-Ahsa mayor’s office undersecretary and chairman of the festival’s executive committee, Abdullah bin Muhammad Al-Arfaj, said date and palm tree cultivation “is back on the right track.” Some 240 kg of Khalas dates used to be sold for SR 400. This year they went for no less than SR 750, he said.
A number of traders said they did not expect the revenue increases in the first year of the festival.
Many traders came from other Saudi regions and from GCC countries. Abdullah Al-Hajri, date trader from Kuwait, said that those in charge of the event made sure to avoid the disorder that often occurred in the date market in the past. Al-Hajri buys dates from Al-Ahsa markets ever year and called for the festival to continue throughout the year.
The festival’s Quality Control Committee said it had seized quantities of unfit date products last Wednesday and Thursday. It said that it is monitoring the products that enter the festival (market) to prevent fraud.
Badr bin Fahd Al-Shihab, director of the festival’s auction and head of the events committee, said Thursday’s sales amounted to more than SR 4, 856,000. A kilo of Khalas dates reached SR 21 — after being sold for SR 4 in recent years. So far the festival received 553 vehicles loaded with dates, he said.