To address a shortage of skilled date harvesters, Algerian researcher and inventor Ahmed Nourani developed a machine that won Algeria’s best-invention award for 2014.
Nourani, a Higher School of Agriculture graduate specializing in agricultural mechanization, said the machine simplified harvesting that otherwise required climbing palms of any height. He described the work as strenuous and dangerous, contributing to the shortage of skilled climbers.
Meanwhile, palm numbers continued to increase through planting programs under government and private development plans.
A researcher at an institute in Biskra, southern Algeria, Nourani developed a prototype to harvest date bunches without climbing. It has a base, telescopic mast, cutting mechanism, and basket to hold and lower the bunch. The base is fixed to the palm and the mast extended until the basket and cutting mechanism reach the dates.
Once the bunch is inside the basket and the electric saw aligned with its stem through the mast-to-base connection, the operator pulls a control cord to activate the cut. The basket’s lifting and lowering cords then bring the severed bunch down.
Tests showed it could harvest half a palm’s bunches from one position at a height of eight meters. Harvesting a bunch took about three minutes after setup. The machine weighed about 42 kilograms and cost approximately €1,500 to manufacture, making it portable and economical in the inventor’s view.
Nourani received the best-invention award at the Industry Ministry’s Algerian innovation exhibition in December 2014. He regarded it as a suitable alternative to the exhausting traditional manual method imposed on farmers.
Algeria has about 18 million palms, produces around 850,000 tons annually, and has 900 date varieties, led by Deglet Nour.
Success and Obstacles
Nourani believed his machine could substantially reduce the shortage of skilled climbers and that manufacturing it could provide an important development opportunity for this strategic agricultural sector.
Youssef Ghamri, director general of the state-owned Southern Dates Company and president of the date exporters’ association, said Algeria had around 18 million palms, produced 850,000 tons annually, and had 900 varieties, especially internationally marketed Deglet Nour. An agricultural institute expected production to reach 1.2 million tons by 2019.
Despite its importance and effectiveness, supported by farmers who had seen and understood the machine, Nourani had received no investment offers from Algeria or abroad. Like other Algerian inventors, he faced obstacles to his ambitions and innovative projects.
Most surprising was the community’s lack of confidence in Algerian inventors. He attributed this particularly to widespread lack of self-confidence in Algerian and Arab society, which, he said, regarded outsiders as extraordinary people.
Although he had other ideas, notably a palm-pollination mechanism, Nourani wanted to emigrate if possible, saying he saw no glimmer of hope for better research standards or conditions for Algerian researchers.