Thousands of young date palms, Iraq's national symbol, form lines that extend from the edge of the desert near the central city of Karbala and into the horizon.

Iraq's prized trees are central to a push aimed to preserve a long-threatened ancestral culture, whose fruit historically presented prosperity across the Arab world.

"The date palm is the symbol and pride of Iraq," expressed Mohammad Abul-Maali, commercial director at the Fadak date plantation.

Once known as the "country of 30 million palm trees", and home to 600 varieties of the fruit, Iraq's date production has been disrupted by decades of conflict, US occupation, and environmental challenges, including drought, desertification, and salinization.

The Fadak plantation is a 500-hectare (1,235 acres) farm operated by the Imam Hussein Shrine in the nearby holy city of Karbala. Abul-Maali hoped that the project, launched in 2016, will "restore this culture to what it used to be."

The grove is a repository for "more than 90 date varieties, Iraqi but also Arab species," from the Gulf and North Africa, he added. The Iraqi varieties are among "the rarest and best" and were collected from across the country. 

Of the 30,000 trees planted at Fadak, more than 6,000 are already producing fruit, according to Abul-Maali. He expected this year's harvest to reach 60 tonnes, a threefold increase on 2021.

Number of trees in area fell from six million to less than three million

In the Shatt Al-Arab area, where the Euphrates and Tigris rivers meet, entire tracts were wiped out during the 1980-88 war.

According to Agricultural Engineer Alaa Al-Badran, the number of palm trees in the area has fallen from six million to less than three million today.

Now "the salinization of the waters of the Shatt Al-Arab and of the land" poses an even greater challenge, Badran noted.

"The solution would be drip irrigation and desalination systems. But that can be expensive," indicated Ahmad Al-Awad, whose family once owned 200 date palms in the area but only have 50 trees remaining.

From 11 million palm trees to 17 million in last 10 years

The Iraqi Agriculture Ministry said that some progress in addressing declining date palm production. 

Hadi Al-Yasseri, a spokesperson for the minister, highlighted that "In the last 10 years we have gone from 11 million palm trees to 17 million."

Al-Yasseri pointed out that a government program to rescue the date palms was launched in 2010, but eight years later it was shelved due to a lack of funds.

However, the spokesperson expected the program to be relaunched, as new funds are due to be included in the next government budget.

Much of Iraq's crop is sold to the UAE

According to official figures, Iraq exported almost 600,000 tonnes of dates in 2021. The World Bank highlighted that the fruit is the country's second-largest export commodity after oil.

"As global demand is increasing, the ongoing initiatives in Iraq on improving quality should be continued," a recent World Bank report stated.

While exports earn the national economy $120 million annually, the World Bank revealed that much of Iraq's crop is sold to the United Arab Emirates, where dates are repackaged and re-exported for higher prices.