Production of dates in Saudi Arabia has a major contribution in the development of the country's economy as well as its' agricultural sector. In terms of production as well as exports of dates, Saudi Arabia is in the forefront of other countries in the world. The market for dates in Saudi Arabia is also fulfilling the needs of local markets. The geographical and climatic conditions of the country have several advantages to further increase the production of dates and their exports to compete at international markets. Almost 25% area and 40% of total production in Saudi Arabia is from AlKharj region of the kingdom. A sample of 44 respondents representing farmers, customers, and marketers are surveyed and the data results of their opinions on opportunities and challenges of the industry are analyzed. By using SPSS, goodness fit and item fit analysis of data has been also tested. The study results identified several opportunities for dates marketing and however concluded that the farmers and traders are faced difficulties in marketing of their produced dates. Based on the analysis of study results, it is also proposed that by the ways of date festivals, easy hiring of labor and, awareness of financial support schemes from the government would definitely support the industry and its stakeholder to face the challenges at present.

Ghorbani, M., Kulshreshtha, S. & Aminizadeh, M. (2021). Assessing effective factors for export of Iranian dates to European Union using a gravity model. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 27 (1), 59–64 Agricultural sector is the most influential sector in developing countries, such as Iran. This is on account of favorable climatic conditions and availability of natural resources, which lead to high productive capability and excess production for export of many agricultural products. Date is one of the most important agricultural export products in Iran. Recently, with the advent of exporting power of Iran, its position in the European Union (EU) market has diminished. Reasons for this are somewhat obscure and need further study. The aim of this study is to assess the role played by various factors on Iranian exports of dates to EU market. Analysis was based on an application of gravity model using data for the 2004-13 periods. Our analysis established four important results: First, Poisson Pseud...

This study attempts to analyze the function of Iraqi agricultural exports for the period 1990-2016 and to shows the effect of Iraqi date exports on it by using econometric analysis and trying to find out and explain the effect of some economic variables in the agricultural exports function during the target period. The study concluded that the agricultural product does not affect in agricultural exports, where the significance of the function is not determined. The new results show offer omitting the agricultural product that all the variables are statistical significance, this means that those independent variables (Iraqi dates exports, dinar exchange rate against US dollar, and the openness of trade of Iraq ,the study found that the exchange rate is one of the most important factors affecting agricultural exports and then dates exports. The coefficient of determinants was about 91%. The significance of the model as a whole was found at 1% through F test. The opennessof trade abroad through trade agreements, the exchange rate and the increase in the value of date exports through the export of the varaites which wanted globallyhave a great impact on the development of agricultural exports, especially date exports. The study recommended to need to activate the institutional structures for export to supports efforts towards the goal of development trade openness are the most important variables affected the exports of Iraqi agricultural products.

This study aimed at annual analysis of Iranian date export, using the gravity model and cross-section data for each year from 1994 to 2013. The estimated results of gravity equation show the negative effects of geographical distance and landlocked location, and the positive effects on Iran’s date export of re-export, political relations, social and commercial ties and access to high seas. The date export relative prices and per capita GDP of partners show that most of Iran’s date has been exported at low prices and to countries with low per capita income. Moreover, the calculated date export potential indicates that, on average, Iran’s export has been close to its full export potential in Central Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, while it has exploited only 76 percent of its export potential to European countries. More than half of the export potential to Germany, Italy, Denmark, and Sweden has remained unexploited. The lifting of trade sanctions, adherence to international hygieni...

Saudi Arabia is among the leading nations worldwide in date production and market share. This study aims to quantify date marketing cost structure in Saudi Arabia and to identify factors causing variations among cost items using descriptive statistical analysis, ultimately, enhancing the comparative advantage of the Saudi dates in the world market. The study relied on primary data collected randomly from major date market regions in Saudi Arabia, namely, Al-Madinah AlMunawara, Riyadh, Al-Qassim, and Al-Hasa. Results showed that average date retailing cost was almost double that of date wholesaling cost (SR 8597/ton and 4236/ton, respectively). In general terms, labor costs and storage costs were the major items among date marketing costs. They represented about 44.5% and 31.4% of the average marketing cost, respectively. Results showed, also, some significant variations among average date marketing cost items due to type of marketing channels, regional factor, educational level of d...

Marketing margin is defined as the difference between the producer price and the consumer price and it can be affected by various factors. In this article, noting the fact that Sistan and Blouchistan province is one of the most important date producers in Iran, an attempt is made to estimate the economic function of factors affecting the date marketing margin in the province. The data required in this research has been collected through field survey and document analysis. The results of estimation of marketing margin functions obtained through utilizing a combination of models including the Price Increase Model, Relative Price and Marketing Margin. Data analysis indicates that farmgate price and harvest margin of dates are among the highly influential factors on the entire marketing margin. The retail-margin function is influenced by retail price and retailer cost and the wholesale margin function is affected by wholesale price and wholesaler cost. Calculation of market transparency...