Australia's date growers are setting sights on the export potential of one of the world's most expensive dates, but are struggling to reach high production volumes.

To improve techniques, growers want to set up an association to share knowledge, for marketing and to receive government funding for more research.

The Yellow Barhi date is a special variety known for its unique trait to be eaten in the khalal stage, when fresh and crunchy, that most other dates do not have.

Date grower Steve Brauer set his main focus on the special variety at the family-owned farm, Riverland Date Garden, near Berri in South Australia, and said there was huge potential for exports, as Australia was producing the fruit in the offseason of the Northern Hemisphere.

"It's considered as a premium variety in the Middle Eastern culture and they just love it so there is a huge demand," Mr Brauer said.

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"There are only two commercial growers in Australia, I know of, that are exporting.

"If I had to describe the taste of the Bahri date, it's like nashi pear — sweet and you just keep chewing the fruit and the sweetness comes out."

"Returns are quite good, the wholesale price is between $20-25."

Ben Wall with the Tamara Date Farm Cooperative picks their Yellow Khalal Barhi variety. ( ABC Rural: Katrina Beavan )

Mr Brauer said the date industry in Australia was still in its infancy and a major challenge for many growers was to get the fruit setting right, which decided on production volumes.

"If we get the fruit setting right there is potential they produce between 300 to 400 kilograms per tree."

"We get some fruit set but it's not what it should be, instead of 10kg a tree it should be 300 kg a tree."

Date grower Ben Wall from the Tamara Date Farm Cooperative near Alice Springs said the main challenge with the Bahri palm tree was pollination.

"It is quite tricky to get a good pollination to it but once it is pollinated it is quite easy to grow… and you have options of selling it when it is yellow or brown," Mr Wall said.

Riverland date grower Steve Brauer pollinating one of his date palms at his plantation near Berri, in South Australia. ( ABC Rural: Jessica Schremmer )

Growers want representative body to improve the industry

As Australia's date industry is still an emerging industry there is no registry of production volumes and producers, and therefore growers want to establish a representative body to share knowledge and public funding for more research.

Mr Brauer said setting up an association was not just about exchanging knowledge but also setting up a marketing arm.

Grower Steve Brauer sees high export potential for Australia's dates. ( ABC Rural: Jessica Schremmer )

"At the moment we are talking to AgriFuture because they have funding programs for emerging industries," Mr Brauer said.

Grower Mr Wall said an association was the right step as growers then could lobby the government for research priorities.

"They have dedicated research stations and growers can tell them what they need to know and it will be researched," he said.

Many growers in Australia struggle with fruit setting on their Barhi tree. ( ABC Rural: Jessica Schremmer )

"It can then quickly be disseminated among all the growers and improvements can be made very quickly and that is a real asset for the industry.

"I think we need more contact and conversations with farmers domestically and overseas to improve the husbandry of dates to improve farmers infrastructure."

Ripe Bahri dates just before harvest this year at Steve Brauer's plantation in the Riverland. ( Supplied: Steve Brauer )

Mark Hampel will harvest his first crop of Barhi dates next year at his plantation in Charleville, in Queensland, and said as an association, growers could work with agricultural departments and the Australian Government, which would be a benefit to everyone.

"A lot of people don't know about the Barhi dates, I guess there is an educational aspect to it as well," Mr Hampel said.

"Another challenge is to get proven as an industry."

Research Fellow, Dr Nabil Ahmad at the Plant Breeding Institute at the University of Sydney said more research in female and male varieties and their compatibility had to be undertaken to improve productivity.

"Barhi is one of the most difficult cultivars to get fruit setting not only in Australia but also overseas," Dr Ahmad said.

"We need good germination ability and good viability of the pollen.

"All of it can be improved with research but we can't do research without enough funding, and that's one of the challenges the date industry in Australia is facing."

Australia's climate conditions in favour for date industry expansion

Dave Reilly, managing director of Gurra Downs Date Company, has been supplying tissue culture date palms to other farmers across Australia for the last 18 years and said if you got fruit setting for the Barhi variety right, it was very rewarding.

"We had some amazing yields on some of our Barhi trees and we manage them in all different ways," Mr Reilly said.

"We spend a long time to research a program to manage the Barhi.

Dave Reilly harvesting great quality fruit this year at Gurra Downs in the Riverland. ( Supplied: Gurra Downs Date Company )

"Last season our best yield of a Barhi tree was 346.8 kg of a single tree, so we are learning about the tree and how to manage it."

Dr Ahmad said due to global warming, many regions in Australia were becoming more suitable to grow date palms, which meant Australia's climate was in favour for the date industry.

"The date palm is a heat and drought tolerant plant, which can thrive under very unfavourable conditions," Mr Ahmad said.

"Many areas in the South are becoming more favourable, as they are getting hotter and hotter and date palms need a number of heat units, so they can ripen."

Dr Ahmad says due to global warming, many regions in Australia are becoming more suitable to grow date palms. ( ABC Rural: Jessica Schremmer )

Mr Wall said as Australia was an arid continent, dates were an ideal crop to grow in such an environment.

"But they do need a lot of water to fruit well, so you need to have sustainable sources of water to make it viable," Mr Wall said.

Apart from the Barhi dates various other varieties including the Bajool, Brown Barhi, Deglet Noor, Thoory, Khadrawy, Zahidis, and the Bou Fergus are grown in Australia.

