The study was conducted during 2015/2016 in two districts of Afar Regional State which were purposively selected based on\ntheir experiences on date palm production and locations relative to Awash River. Objectives of the study were evaluating the\nexisting production practices and constraints of date palm production to generate baseline information for further researches and\nextension. A total of 117 household heads were interviewed using structured and semistructured questionnaires. Key informant\ninterviews, focus group discussions, and direct observations of date palm plantations have been also conducted. The study was\ndesigned to address date palm production along the value chain. The majority of household heads were male, married, and\nilliterate. About 94.19% of household heads allocated less than one hectare of land for date palm production and had 21ââ?¬â??40 years\n(77.8%) of experience. Seeds (90.6%) were dominantly used for propagation, which are not appropriate for date palm production.\nLocal varieties with low yielding potential were cultivated using flooding irrigation (76.9%). Date palm production was practiced\ntraditionally and constrained with high incidence of insect pests. Capacity building training sessions and researches on proper\nagronomic, management, and postharvest handling practices are recommended to improve the production of date palm in the\nregion.
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