Cultivating the desert
Agronomic and Social Analysis of Production Systems in the Oasis of al-ʿUlā, Saudi Arabia
CNRS
oct 2023 - jun 2025
> Illustration of 71 varieties of date palm tree (Phoenix dactylifera)
> Elise Gaury & Vincent Battesti (2025). Cultivating the Desert: Agronomic and Social Analysis of Production Systems in the Oasis of al-ʿUlā, Saudi Arabia. Paris: CNRS, Zenodo (al-ʿUlā Anthropological Survey Project), 469 pp. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17107562
« Scientifically, this work provides the first comprehensive, system-level analysis of contemporary oasis agriculture in al-ʿUlā, combining agronomic measurements with an anthropological analysis of practices, knowledge, labour organisation, and socioeconomic strategies. It identifies six production systems currently coexisting in the oasis, grouped into three major categories, and assesses their respective economic and social functions. »
- V. Battesti
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