Page 474 - Bahrain Gov Annual Reports (IV)_Neat

66

AGRICULTURE

(Report by Mr. J. T. Edmond, Agriculture Officer)
Index
Extracts given in this report arc taken from the following :—
(1) Report on a Visit to Bahrain Islands by Professor R. Good.

(2) Report on the Second Near East Regional Meeting on Food and Agriculture Programmes
and Outlook (organised by F.A.O. of U.N.O.).

(3) Report on the Stratigraphy and Hydrology of Bahrain by the Bahrain Petroleum Company.

Introduction
The following notes on agriculture in Bahrain are an attempt to show, in general terms, the
circumstance and conditions of the industry. They are primarily intended to give initial help to
those who may succeed the writer in agricultural appointments on the Islands.
It may be said generally that the industry is active enough but not flourishing. Lack of
suitable irrigation water is the most powerful controlling factor in extension of cultivated areas,
while to-day another controlling factor is the poor cash return to growers for their produce.
Many of the gardens and plantations are owned by wealthy shaikhs and merchants, some of
whom have little interest and no knowledge of agriculture. It is a fashionable thing for a
wealthy man to buy land, to have a garden and a country house in which to relax, and thus the
uneconomic state of the place is of no account. Most landowners, of course, lease their land
to tenants rather than hire a manager to care for it and the rent is always high, often higher than
the tenant has any hope of settling.
But there is a small group of influential shaikhs and merchants, who own large tracts of
land and are both knowledgeable and enthusiastic in agricultural matters. They form the
progressive nucleus of the agricultural community but are somewhat hampered by lack of
leadership and decisiveness.
The writer admits a limited knowledge of date culture, and has had to rely on authoritative
locals for much information on this subject.
Where extracts are taken from reports, the reader should refer to the index number
inserted after the extract for the title of these reports.

I. The Land
“Geologically Bahrain Island is a simple shallow elongated anticlinal dome of oce
rocks, which dip down-flank from 1 to 5 degrees, and which are covered perophera y an
unconformably by more recent deposits. On the north this peripheral extension of the is an
considerable and mainly of rocks of Miocene age with a maximum thickness of about c *
but these are partially or entirely covered with even younger superficial deposits.’ (1)
“In the south the peripheral extension is even greater and again consists largely of Miocene
rocks, with a thickness of some 90 feet, but these are completely covered with young
deposits.”(l)

and the sin^plich^on^TmidJn^s'truci11'"6 n°,major faults or unconformities in the island
complication is that the whot cemral *" °n'y °ne ,mPortant resPecl' ™S
4, is a great shallow sanrer with r u ?3rl l^e IS arK,» comprising an area about 12 miles by
surrounded by ““"ex floor, from which rises theJebel Dukhan, and

I