June 28-29 Kuwait City

My reason for visiting Kuwait was purely to meet again with Dr Sudhersan who works for the Kuwait Institute of Scientific Research. I previously met him following a presentation he delivered to the Fourth International Date Palm Conference in Abu Dhabi in 2010. The topic was his work on date palm hybridization where he is achieving interesting varietal traits.  I was fortunate Dr Sudhersan agreed to show me around his facility and allow me to look at his progressive work. This photo: Dr Sudhersan and I looking through his experimental plot.

Dr Sudhersan shared with me some insights into date palm management and was able to provide some answers and explanations to questions and teething problems in relation to date palm management that I've been having. We inspected the Institute's tissue culture and nursery facilities before walking through his date palm trial sites. This photo: example of intercropping.

I continue to be amazed with Dr Sudhersan's projects. He is one of the most creative thinkers I've ever met and his trial plantation is full of different useful plant species - most I've never heard of. His collection features many medicinal trees and shrubs plus edible fruits. Dr Sudhersan has even successfully acclimatized some tropical species, cleverly grown beneath the shade of date palms. His date breeding projects include a dwarf date palm and a seedless date palm variety. This photo: young palms cropping.

Dr Sudhersan has also implemented a pilot project to combat desertification using a range of indigenous plant species to green the desert. I hope he can continue this valuable work and share his knowledge with the rest of the world.

Kuwait is a modern city still rebuilding itself following the Iraqi invasion when almost all of the original city was destroyed. New buildings in the CBD areas are attractive and energetic. At night some of the skyscrapers dazzle with coloured light displays vibrantly moving beween buildings and giving the city and harbour a 'Las Vegas-like' glamour.

Kuwait's harbour and coastline supports a bustling fishing industry with bountiful hauls and diverse fish species on the menu all year round. During summer Kuwait is extremely hot with the most active time of day being after sundown when people emerge from the air-conditioning and walk and talk and dine until late in the night. This photo: pointing to Iraq - just across the gulf.

Dr Sudhersan drove me around markets where I sampled many different date varieties.

We also visited nursery markets where fruiting and ornamental palms are available for sale. Thanks to Dr Sudhersan for looking after me and showing me around. I very much look forward to staying in contact and following his most impressive work. Incredible. Next stop: Oman This photo: ornamental palms ready for sale.