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16 AlMAnACALong An AnciEntcArAvAn routEHowever, the work of small-scale pro- ducers, the guardians of this delicate system, is not well regarded and young people are abandoning the land to look elsewhere for better-paid, more socially prestigious work. This exodus is threat- ening the transfer of knowledge and practices that ensure the conservation of oases and their biodiversity. To promote their unique nature and importance, Slow Food is working with the local network to set up the Aoufous Date Presidium with a group of producers who proudly prac- tice traditional agroecology.Now a rural town in the province of Er- rachidia in the Drâa-Tafilalet region, Aou- fous has an important history. In the 6th and 7th centuries, it was a center for the production and selection of dates trans-ported by caravan from Mesopotamia. Situated near a river and the ancient city of Sijilmasa, the main trading post be- fore crossing the Sahara, Aoufous was the ideal place for growing the date vari- eties which arrived with the caravans.How to poLLinAtEA dAtE pALmBoromdane Ahmed, a farmer and the president of the local association of wa- ter service users, has 150 date palms and is an expert on oasis agroecol- ogy and the delicate balance it requires. Flood irrigation is used, by means of a system of channels. The water comes from a branch of the River Ziz, and when the water level is high there are usage restrictions. When there is little rainfall and the river branch dries up, the land owners agree to take turns to use water drawn from wells with a petrol-fuelled pump. When the aquifers also run dry, they gradually “sacrifice” their crops, one after the other, leaving the land used for growing fodder, which they need for their animals to survive, until last.Ahmed is also an expert on pollination. “God sends the wind to help pollination, but we need to help it in its work,” he says. Hand pollination is practiced to in- crease production, as palms pollinated only by the wind yield less fruit, which is also of poorer quality. Male palms are rare because they are not produc- tive, and this makes pollination even more important. Unlike “modern” palm groves, where pollination is mechani- cal, traditional layer farming is used in these palm groves, which only allows for hand pollination. Today, this precious technique is at risk of disappearing and© ArChIvIo Slow Food