Abstract
This study was conducted to assess some of the factors hindering the production of dates in one of the major date-palm
growing regions of the Punjab, Pakistan. Dera Ghazi Khan district was selected as case study area and a structured interview
schedule was used to collect quantitative data from 120 date growers. The qualitative data were collected through in-depth
interviews with the key informants. This paper also assesses the awareness of farmers about date palm production technology
and, consequently, identifies training needs of date palm growers of Dera Ghazi Khan district regarding production
technology of date palm. Awareness about variety, irrigation practices, fertilizer application, sucker transplantation and
insect/pest of date-palm were selected as variables of production technology. The results revealed that farmers had very low
level of knowledge about the production technology of date palm. The unawareness about production technology of the date
palm was found as one of the major factors hindering the yield and ultimately profit for the date growers. The agricultural
extension staff was found to be ineffective in dissemination of date palm technology and most of the respondents reported
that they had received no information from agricultural extension staff regarding date palm production technology. There is
an urgent need to train farmers about irrigation and fertilizer application, disease and pest management, sucker transplanting
and processing of dates.
