The Dried Dates Of Dhaki

The view of a date plantation in Dhaki, Dera Ismail Khan. The region's hot climate in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province supports date production. Some 100 plantations the region produce 90,000 kilograms of dates annually.

A date tree comes of age at three years and begins to bear fruit. It reaches its peak at 15 years.

A date tree at a plantation that has reached its peak for bearing fruit.

Dhaki dates are comparatively larger in size and yellow in coloring when they are ripe and harvested. The harvesting process continues for 15 days, relying on adequate weather conditions in August.

Once the date branches have been removed from the tree, they are transported to the area where they will be removed from the branch. This is done by shaking the branch vigorously.

Ijaz-Ullah, a resident of neihboring Mianwali dictrict, scoops the ripened dates into a basket, ready to be cooked.

Baskets full of dates to be cooked in a giant wok, fueled by firewood to an optimum temperature for the process.

Dates are cooked in a giant wok, which is embedded in a makeshift furnace. The cook, Mohammad Nazir, has traveled from Kashmore, a town in Pakistan's southern Sindh Province. He is a specialist date cook and is paid $20 per day. A measured amount of sodium bicarbonate is added to the wok.

Dates are cooked at an optimum temperature for 15 minutes. Mohammed Nazir maintains the temperature by adding firewood to the furnace frequently.

Workers carry the cooked dates to the next stage of the production process. The cooked dates are laid to dry and occasional turned to allow all sides of the fruit to catch the scorching sun.

Dates that have been cooked and are ready to be dried in the sun. This process can take up to a week. If it rains, the produce is gathered and taken into storage to be re-laid once the rain has stopped and the ground is dry again.

Dates are carried in baskets to be laid in the sun once they have been cooked. This process takes place in the warmest month of the summer, when it is least likely to rain.

Tons of dates are laid out in the scorching sun to dry. Once dried, they change color to a dark, reddish brown.

Ijaz-Ullah is a resident of Mianwali. Every year, he takes time out from farming to work on the date plantations.