Cooperative work on the Red Palm Weevil in the Middle East
Prof. Dan Gerling
The work, which is directed and led by the Peres Center for Peace is based on the principle that pests know no boundaries and that cooperative work of neighboring countries can benefit everyone and will result in better control practices and an improved standard of living for all participants. Therefore, our approach to solve the serious Red Palm Weevil problems is through cooperative work of the four neighbors who suffer from its attack: Egypt; The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan; Israel and The Palestinian authority. The Center approached each group to render its expertise in pest management and control of the Red Palm Weevil and assists the groups in financial and professional assistance for studying and controlling the pest.
The Red Palm Weevil project is headquartered in the Peres Peace Center in Tel Aviv Israel (Internet site: www.peres-center.org) and works through continuous communication, feedback and assistance of the four entities among each other.
Highlights of the activities in each place are as follows:
Egypt – A large laboratory had been constructed in Qasassin. Its work concentrates on research in rearing, pesticide use and resistance. It also serves as a main center for monitoring instruction and control of the pest at the local and national level.
Jordan – A laboratory is being equipped with the necessary research facilities. It is also the center of the monitoring and control activities in the date growing region of Jordan.
Israel – The Peres Center for Peace directs and supervises, supplies the funds, advice, and materials for the whole project. In Israel, its personnel carry out monitoring, biological and detection studies. This is done in communication and cooperation with the Plant Protection Division’s monitoring efforts and the Agricultural Research Organization’s own research on the topic.
The Palestinian authority – A laboratory was established near Jericho and an extensive system of traps was laid out to monitor the Red Palm Weevils and prevent further attacks on the palm trees in the region.
On-going research, information exchanges and the sharing of new technologies that had been developed, facilitated the improvement Red Palm Weevil control and resulted in greatly reduced damage. Long term plans for the research and pest management implementation throughout the affected participating countries have been constructed.
The principal directions of research and field control work practiced by the group have been:
To establish a cooperative IPM program for controlling the Date palm weevils and preventing their spread.
Three main thrusts of the project:
· Detection
The pest attacks palm trees and if left undetected can cause the felling of a tree within a few weevil generations resulting in very severe overall damage. However, if detected on time, the damage can be minimized or even prevented. Hence most of the efforts here and in all areas of weevil infestations are directed at detection. In addition to the use of traps, the PCP developed a very successful way to use sniffer dogs, as well as an electronic hearing device to detect infested tress and the boring larvae.
· Control
Infested trees are destroyed or cured. Endangered trees are treated with insecticides. These treatments are correlated with the trap catches to estimate their efficacy. New treatment methods and thresholds are planned according to an analysis of the results in an effort to reduce the use of poisonous materials to a minimum.
· Education.
A motion picture has been produced and disseminated among the participants of the project. It depicts the life history damages and ways to monitor and control the pest. Continuous liaison between the laboratories, the ministries of agriculture, and the growers provides transfer of new information to the growers and feedback from them to the centers in each country.
Each group conducts its own monitoring and tree protection activities. Coordination is achieved through periodic meetings among the groups and continuous phone and e-mail communication.
Egypt Gulf area India Iran Jordan Spain the Mediterranean Area the Middle East