Enhancing economic productivity of irrigation water by product value addition: Case of dates

Quality irrigation water is precious in agriculture under arid conditions. The value addition in agricultural product makes a new commodity outside the traditional frame to achieve higher returns with improved shelf-life and minimizes post-harvest losses. The aim of this study is to evaluate and quantify the improvements possible in water productivity through value addition in date cultivated under arid conditions in Oman. The primary and secondary data were collected through questionnaire surveys from farmers, sellers, factories and ministry extensions. The comparisons were made between the marketing of raw product against those with value-added, which were produced using the same quantity of resources; particularly irrigation water. The productivity was estimated by the ratio of agricultural benefits in kg to the irrigation water use in m³. The net-profit based productivity ratio improvements in Khalas and Fardh dates were 540% and 360% respectively for value-added dates packed with nuts. The lowest productivity ratio was observed in Khalas dates with saffron and other flavors (111%), and Fardh date paste (129%). In Khalas, the best improvement by the value-addition in average water productivity from the base-values of 0.57 kg/m³, or 0.63 OMR/m³ of the raw date were 2.06 kg/m³ or 2.28 OMR/m3 in date with nuts respectively while in Fardh, the same were 1.55 kg/m³ or 1.71 OMR/m³ respectively. The observed potential improvements in equivalent water productivity indicates the benefit of value addition would be vital for achieving agricultural sustainability goals under arid agriculture.