An international delegation comprising Dr. Owain Muhammad, Date Palm Project Coordinator in the GCC countries; Dr. Mustafa Al-Buhuseini, expert at the International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA) and a number of international experts in the field of date palm farming and dates production visited the Al-Batin Project south of Buraidah that belongs to the Saleh Abdul Aziz Al-Rajhi Endowments Administration. The delegation toured all the facilities of the project and became acquainted with the modern technology and machinery being used to develop the project and increase its production. Saud Bin Abdul Kareem Al-Fadda, Director of the Agricultural Administration, said the visit was organized in coordination with the National Center for Date Palm and Dates Research in Al-Ahsa and was part of the effort to develop date palm farming in the Kingdom by exchanging expertise with large agricultural organizations. Agricultural experts have been especially interested in visiting the Saleh Abdul Aziz Al-Rajhi Endowments Administration in Al-Batin after it was registered in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest date palm project in the world. The project has 200,000 date palms and is well known for its production of quality dates including Sukkari, Khlass, Barhi, Shabeebi, Saq'iy, Nabbout Saif and Muneefi, among others. In addition, it produces date palm seedlings.
