Soil salinity tolerance
Date palm has the highest salinity tolerance among fruit trees. The low soil requirements and high adaptability of date palm represent another advantage in salt-affected environments (Qadir et al., 2008).
Other environmental services
Date palm provides protection (shade and shelter) to under-crops (fruit trees or annual crops) from the harshness of the climate (heat, wind and cold weather). Date palm also prevents soil degradation and desertification (El-Juhany, 2010; Sawaya, 2000).
Palm trees are a keystone species in oasis agriculture. They ensure an optimal use of space, biodiversity, water resources and the work force (Koohafkan, 2002; Sawaya, 2000). Date palm is a valuable crop for establishing a sustainable system of subsistence agriculture, thus helping populations to settle in rural areas (Sawaya, 2000).
By-products
The by-products of date production have always been recycled by farmers and local populations, and have been considered as "an eloquent example of integrated sustainable use of renewable material resources" (El-Mously, 2001). There is a long tradition of using cull dates and date pits to feed animals, and the crop residues serve as raw materials to create household items, furniture and building materials (El-Mously, 2001).