RIPE AND UNRIPE DATES ON A DATE TREE, 2003-08-28 (photo)

Ripe and unripe dates hang from a date palm before workers shake the bunch to harvest ripe dates in Bam, a city in Kerman province 1,200 kilometers south of Tehran, Iran August 24,2003. Iran's Kerman province which produces about 300,000 tons of dates per year is expecting to have a 40% reduction in this year's crop due to drought. Date farmers who use a system of underground canals known as qanats to carry surface water to their trees have been forced to dig wells as deep as 300 meters. The harvest of dates is done by families with the men climbing trees and the women doing the sorting and packing. The children help out where they can. Iran exports dates to Europe and North America. REUTERS/Caren Firouz CJF