Forests of date palms growing in arid desert - a sight never seen before - could become a reality if a fledgling business venture takes off. Raju Thupran a landscape engineer at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), hopes to produce drought-resistant date palms on a commercial scale. Date palms do not naturally grow in forests, but if he succeeds they could be cultivated in this way with minimal irrigation on even the most parched land. Thupran, also plans to produce palms that can thrive when irrigated with seawater or are resistant to the red palm weevil, a pest that kills off date palms and causes the trunks to break. All this is some way off, however, as Thupran's plans are at an early stage - which makes him an ideal choice to receive funding from the KAUST Seed Fund Program. He is one of eight applicants awarded a total of almost $1 million in the first round of this Economic Development Department initiative, according to a report of KAUST web-site. --MORE
