How Glen's Oliver palm discovery in central Australia is now a hit in CaliforniaVBy Victoria EllisABC RuralTopic:Horticulture1h ago1 hours agoMon 5 May 2025 at 12:48amArid Zone Research Institute horticulturalist Glen Oliver at the date palm plantation. (ABC Alice Springs: Victoria Ellis)abc.net.au/news/glen-oliver-date-palm-discovery-alice-springs/105200486Link copiedShareShare articleGlen Oliver could not look more at home as he walked through neat rows of date palms towering like giant spiky umbrellas under the clear blue central Australian sky."One, two, three, four," he said, as he pointed out a few of the palms he grew from tissue culture in the plantation at the Arid Zone Research Institute (AZRI) in Alice Springs.Mr Oliver, a skilled horticulturalist, has nurtured a huge number of plants and species in the nearly 20 years he has worked at the research farm.The Mitakoodi man from Western Queensland has tended rockmelons, planted garlic, watered jujubes, and trialled almonds — but the highlight of his career was discovering a new variety of date palm.Mr Oliver with the Oliver palm. (ABC Alice Springs: Victoria Ellis)"It didn't look like any of our male palm trees," he said."I hit the flower and all this pollen came off. That's when I realised we needed this for our pollen research we were doing at the time."We took the offshoot off and sent it away for DNA testing and it came back unknown, so I put my name on it."Mr Oliver believes the palm was planted years ago by someone who did not realise it was a new, unclassified and undocumented variety of date palm.A global phenomenonThe Oliver palm does not grow fruit but does produce an unusually high amount of pollen which can be useful for fertilising fruit-producing female palms.Mr Oliver said it was the only male palm tree that flowered three times in one season.Mr Oliver hopes to inspire other Indigenous people to work in agriculture. (ABC Alice Springs: Victoria Ellis)Since its discovery in 2015, the Oliver palm has been grown in many countries around the world, from Indonesia to the United States.Mr Oliver said the Oliver palm was so popular in California the US state was aiming to grow "15 to 17 million Oliver palms".He said discovering the new variety was "amazing" and he was proud to give the palm his name."It's great. My name is all around the world," he said."It means that if you put your heart and mind to it you can do anything you want. It doesn't matter who you are or what you do in life, you can achieve a lot."Mr Oliver has worked at AZRI for nearly 20 years. (ABC Alice Springs: Victoria Ellis)Aboriginal achievements in agricultureYuin man Rueben Bolt, the deputy vice-chancellor at Charles Darwin University — where Mr Oliver completed his Certificate III in Horticulture back when the institute was called Centralian College — echoed the sentiment."Anyone can do this. There's opportunity for anyone to do this," he said.Mr Oliver is a role model for young people. (ABC Alice Springs: Victoria Ellis)Professor Bolt said more stories like Mr Oliver's needed to be celebrated."What you usually hear in a lot of the media is not necessarily the positive stories about Aboriginal people," he said.Garlic harvest ends, but seeds planted for the next generationPhoto shows A man stands with children dressed in blue shirts and hats around a blue tub filled with dirt covered garlic bulbs.An Indigenous community harvesting Australia's earliest commercial garlic crop is hoping to pass on farming skills to improve the lives of future generations."In Glen's case, this is about the date palm and how it was named after him. That's something to be celebrated."That then automatically elevates Glen up into this role model which says to the younger generations 'this is something that can be done'."Mr Oliver said he hoped other Indigenous people in central Australia would follow his lead.He said Centrefarm, near Ali Curung, was another example of Aboriginal people doing great things in agriculture.The enterprise employs and trains Aboriginal workers as part of a plan to facilitate long-term economic development in the region."I'm so proud of them, what they're doing up there with their garlic," he said.ABC Rural RoundUp newsletterStories from farms and country towns across Australia, delivered each Friday.Your information is being handled in accordance with the ABC Privacy Collection Statement.Email addressSubscribePosted 1h ago1 hours agoMon 5 May 2025 at 12:48amShare optionsCopy linkFacebookX (formerly Twitter)Top StoriesTrump says Albanese a 'friend of mine' and has 'no idea' who Dutton isLIVE'Laughable policies': Voters explain what went wrong for CoalitionTopic:ElectionsPhoto shows A young coupleFirst Canada, then Australia: Trump is toxic for conservatives everywhereAAnalysis by Alan KohlerPhoto shows man with a bald head and glasses faces a man with blond hairLiberal senator slams leadership contender Angus TaylorTopic:Liberal Party of AustraliaPhoto shows Hollie Hughes dstopThe message to the Coalition is clear: This is not John Howard's AustraliaPAnalysis by Patricia KarvelasPhoto shows Anthony Albanese holds up his hands to calm the crowd.Related storiesNew ultra-fertile variety of date palm foundTopic:Agricultural CropsPhoto shows Rainbow date palmNorthern Territory's biggest date farm records largest-ever harvestTopic:Agricultural CropsPhoto shows A close shot of a bunch of brown Medjool dates hanging from a 20 metre high palmDate farmers in Central Australia determined to fight cheap importsTopic:AgriculturePhoto shows A basket of datesSave the date: Why shoppers could soon be buying more Australian-grown fruitTopic:Fruit GrowingPhoto shows Two men stand on either side of a date palm. 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