An Integrated Management Approach for Red Palm Weevil Rhynchophorus Ferrugineus Oliv. a Key Pest of Date Palm in the Middle East

The date palm, Phoenix doctylifera L., is the most important fruit crop in the Middle East, cultivated since prehistoric times. Since mid-eighties the dreaded pest of palms viz. the red palm weevil. Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Oliv. has been reported to cause serious damage to date palm in certain pockets of the Gulf region. The pest subsequently spread to most of the date growing centers in the region and attained a key pest status. The unique agroclimatic conditions prevailing in the Middle East and the nature of the crop, coupled with transportation of planting material have helped in the rapid development and spread of the pest in a short period of about a decade Feeding of the soft tissues by this concealed borer often leads to the death of the palm. if timely curative measures are not adopted. However, taking up curative measures in the early stage of attack is often not possible as detection in infestation in the early stage is difficult. Moreover, the presence of neglected date gardens, beheaded palms, retention of unwanted off shoots etc. make the problem intricate. To tackle this problem from various angles and successfully combat the pest, the following Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programme is suggested. The major components of the IPM strategy are surveillance, trapping the weevil using pheromones lures, detection of infestation by examining palms. Eliminating hidden breeding sites, clearing abandoned gardens, maintaining crop and field sanitation, preventive chemical treatments, curative chemical control implementing quarantine measures and training and education

Technical Bulletin No. 22

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A Technique to assess the Longevity of the Pheromone (Ferrolure) used in Trapping the Date Red Palm Weevil Rhynchophorous ferrugineus Oliv.

The use of the aggregation pheromone, Ferrugineol (4-Methyl-5-Nonanol) has become an important component of the integrated Pest Management strategy currently adopted to trap the red palm weevil Rhynchophorous ferrugineus oliv., a pest which infects date palm Phoenix dactylifera L. throughout the Middle East. At present two formulations of the pheromone, Ferrolure and Ferrolure+ are widely used. In order to maintain the continuity and efficiency of the trapping system, it is essential to have a constant release of the pheromone into the environment and replace exhausted lures with fresh stocks. ldentification of exhausted lures becomes difficult, especially when the pheromone trapping program is undertaken on a Iarge scale. The present study aimed to develop an easy method to assess the field longevity of the lure, to find out the difference in longevity of lures during winter and summer and to assess the release of the chemical, when the trap is exposed to direct sunlight or is set under shade. This investigation, besides developing a handy scoring technique to assess the status of the pheromone lures, revealed that (i) the lures were exhausted faster in summer as compared to winter (ii) longer field longevity of the pheromone could be obtained by setting traps under the shade (iii) both Ferrolure and Ferrolure+ released the same quantity of the chemical into the environment under shaded conditions, but when traps had to be exposed to sunlight, Ferrolure+ lasted longer than Ferrolure

A Technique to assess the Longevity of the Pheromone (Ferrolure) used in Trapping the Date Red Palm Weevil Rhynchophorous ferrugineus Oliv.

The use of the aggregation pheromone, Ferrugineol (4-Methyl-5-Nonanol) has become an important component of the integrated Pest Management strategy currently adopted to trap the red palm weevil Rhynchophorous ferrugineus oliv., a pest which infects date palm Phoenix dactylifera L. throughout the Middle East. At present two formulations of the pheromone, Ferrolure and Ferrolure+ are widely used. In order to maintain the continuity and efficiency of the trapping system, it is essential to have a constant release of the pheromone into the environment and replace exhausted lures with fresh stocks. ldentification of exhausted lures becomes difficult, especially when the pheromone trapping program is undertaken on a Iarge scale. The present study aimed to develop an easy method to assess the field longevity of the lure, to find out the difference in longevity of lures during winter and summer and to assess the release of the chemical, when the trap is exposed to direct sunlight or is set under shade. This investigation, besides developing a handy scoring technique to assess the status of the pheromone lures, revealed that (i) the lures were exhausted faster in summer as compared to winter (ii) longer field longevity of the pheromone could be obtained by setting traps under the shade (iii) both Ferrolure and Ferrolure+ released the same quantity of the chemical into the environment under shaded conditions, but when traps had to be exposed to sunlight, Ferrolure+ lasted longer than Ferrolure