Training course on management of date palm pests

As part of a collaborative project between the Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFCA) and ICARDA, a training workshop on integrated pest management (IPM) of date palm pests and diseases was organized at Al Kuwaitat Research Station in Al Ain (UAE), on 20-23 December, 2015. A group of international IPM experts conducted this training workshop which was attended by 21 participants from different institutions in Abu Dhabi.

Along with introducing the participants to IPM principles, the workshop presented surveillance guidelines and methods on designing, planning and conducting surveys of insect pests and diseases of date palm. Participants were exposed to principles of designing and analyzing IPM data and learned about environmentally friendly management methods of insect pests and diseases of date palm. Cases of key pests and diseases and their control in date palm that included borers, Red Pam Weevil, and Lesser date moth, etc. were discussed.

‘It is crucial to control date palm pests otherwise they can drastically reduce productivity and quality of the dates, and seriously limit farmers' income,’ said Dr. Mustapha El Bouhssini, Entomologist from ICARDA’s Biodiversity and Integrated Gene Management Program, ICARDA.