Back ground and justification

Doum palm fruit popularly known as gingerbread belongs to Palmae family which is made up
of over 217 genera and 2500 species that grows to 6 or 9 m and usually has forked stems with
fan shaped leaves, 65–75 cm long. It grows in the
Sahel, and hot Savannah, between 12-18 N from
Senegal to Northern Nigeria, Chad, Zaire and North
East Africa. It is listed as one of the useful plants of
the world (Fletcher, 1997; Lokuruka, 2008, Nwosu et
al., 2008). This fruit is widespread all over semi-arid
Sahelian zone of West Africa and appears in March
and persists until the following season’s flowers, in
Nigeria (Moussa et al., 1998; Orwa et al., 2009). It is
commonly found in the northern part of Nigeria and
usually consumed by children in this part of the
country just like the way almond is consumed by
children in the western part of Nigeria. The husk from
the fruit can be pounded to form powder or cut off in
slices; the powder is often dried then added to food as
a flavouring agent. Young shoots produce tasty palm
cabbage; the husk is edible, and so are the immature
seeds if well prepared (Orwa et al., 2009). The trunk of
this type of palm commonly branches into 2 like a ‘Y’
and often each branch divides again in a ‘Y’ form,
giving the tree a very distinctive appearance. The fruit
is ovoid or slightly 3 lobed. It is as shown in figure 1.
Figure 1: Doum Palm Fruit
Having searched for information about the thermal
properties of doum palm fruit, little or no information
was available on the detailed thermal properties of this
fruit and their dependency on operation parameters
that would be useful when subjected to heat treatment.
Therefore, an investigation was carried out to
determine moisture-dependent thermal properties of
doum palm fruit in the moisture range of 24.05 to
67.59%.
One of 10 African Hyphaene, this is the common doum palm of
Ethiopia, Egypt and the Sudan, and growing also in West Africa.
It is usually found on lowland plains, 0-1,300 m, often near
rivers. The tree resists bush fires. In Eritrea, it is common in the
Barka and Gash river basins in the western lowlands. A variety
formerly called Hyphaene dankaliensis grows south from Massawa
and Hirghigo to Assab, as far south as Belul and Harsile.
Timber (construction; trunk, leaves), food (nuts), drink (palm
wine, duma, from cut top of stems), ropes (fibre, leaves), brooms,
fodder (leaves), buttons (seed), river-bank stabilization.
A tree 8-15 m, easily recognized by the regular branching which
may form up to 16 leafy heads. LEAVES: Fan-shaped, nearly 2
m long and 1 m across on long spiny stalks (smaller in the
variety). FLOWERS: Male and female trees. Male spikes to 80
cm with 7-8 branches enclosed in a leafy sheath, female shorter
and thicker, producing the fruit. FRUIT: Irregularly shaped, like
a rounded cube with 2 flat faces, 6-8 cm, smooth, shiny orangebrown
when ripe, 6-8 cm. Edible pulp 4-6 mm thick surrounds
1 hard white seed.
Seedlings, root suckers, rhizomes. Plant seed directly, not in pots,
because of the long taproot which grows down to 50-100 cm
before leaves appear.
Seeds take 5-6 months to germinate.
Coppicing, lopping.
This palm is widely used in Eritrea and elsewhere and often
indicates an area of good soil with a high groundwater table. A
tree is mature in 6-8 years and can produce 50 kg of fruit per
year. Leaf fibres are used as raw material for the manufacture of
sacks. The seeds are used to make buttons and the wood from
the male stem for railway sleepers since it is very durable. The
stem is cut for tapping of sugary sap which ferments into palm
wine. These cut stems die back but the palm coppices from the
root. Palms used for duma must be protected from browsing
camels.

Field lay out and vegetation assessment

After the potential areas for Hyphaene thebaica vegetation survey are identified, a detailed
observation survey will be made across the remnant wood land to make a rough stratification of
different vegetation conditions. Then sample plots of dimension 20mx20m will be established
randomly for stand structure and species composition assessment. The sample plots will be
distributed across the entire selected sites to include all the vegetation characteristics. The
sampling will be done in 3 compartments the first compartments will be 20mx20m, the second
10m by 10m and the 3rd 5m by 5m. Each compartment will be arranged in a concentric manner,
the smaller laying inside the larger. In the first compartment the frequency, abundance and height
of larger trees with DBH>10cm will be recorded. In the second compartment tree abundance and
frequency of middle age trees with DBH b/n 5-10cm will be recorded.

In the 3rdcompartment (5mx5m) the frequency and abundance of seedling and saplings with
DBH less than 5cm will be recorded. Based on the collected data the population structure and
stand density will be calculated on a hectare basis.

Trial site selection

A temporary nursery site will be established in Berahle wereda nursery site to evaluate the
growth performance of Hyphaene thebaica provenances. However, Depending on the
availability (water& labour) and accessibility, the seedlings may be grown in Abaala APARC
experimental site and transported to trial site when the seedlings are strong enough for planting.
The trial sites will be located in areas where there are good average stands of Hyphaene thebaica.
The sites will be fenced and protected from any human and animal intervention.

Plant material and nursery management

Rhizomes or root suckers of Hyphaene thebaica will be collected from the indigenous species in
the region. The Root suckers and rhizomes will be directly planted in prepared pits. The seedling
will be protected by a shade and watered while they are in the nursery. Weeds will be removed
manually and insecticides will be applied when necessary.

Experimental design and field lay out

A minimum of 0.5 ha of land will be prepared and fenced prior to the planting time. The sites
will be manually cleared of vegetation and planting holes pitted with a 40x40x40cm dimension.
The trials will be arranged in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three
replications. Each treatment plot will consist of 49 trees arranged in a plot of 7x7 trees in each
trial site. Distance b/n trees, rows and plots will be 2, 2 and 2.5 respectively. The seedlings will
be planted before the onset of the next main rainy season.

Data collection

 Date of planting
 Viability of seed
 Germination rate
 Survival percentage
 Plant height
  Collar diameter
 Amount of doma produced at a time
 Number of pods per plant
 Weight of fruit per plant
 Flowering and fruiting time
 Leaf size

Data analysis

Expected out put

 The potential areas where Hyphaene thebaica are distributed identified

 The perception of local people with regard to the management and utilization of resource
base improved.
 The population density and natural regeneration status of Hyphaene thebaica in the study
sites known.

Executing agency: APARI

Implementing agency: APARC

Program coordinator:_____

Project coordinator:_______

Initiators: Arab Edris

Locations: Barahle and Abaala weredas

Duration: 5 year