Dates are one of the richest and oldest alimentary products in the Kingdom. There are 13 million date palms in the Kingdom, producing about 400 types of mainly high quality dates. Date production has risen from 240,000 tons in 1970 to 735,000 tons in 2000, an increase which has enabled the Kingdom to export to neighboring countries – in addition to the large quantities it offers as aid to the World Food Program which in turn distributes it to countries in need of this major source of nutrition.