Red palm weevils threaten date farms
270 views · Published 22 December 2018 · 5:06 · Indexed 20 September 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · News & Politics
(17 Dec 2018) LEADIN: Red palm weevils are a growing threat to date farms in Libya. The country's agricultural ministry has joined international efforts to fight the pest. STORYLINE: This date farm in Tarhuna looks like a lush, green paradise. But all is not well. The trees have been attacked by red palm weevils. The tiny beetles can completely destroy a palm farm within just a few weeks. Jumaa Moftah discovered the problem when he was trimming one of his trees. "We attempted to clean it in the basic way. That's when we found that the palm was infected and rotten and then it fell completely. When we looked at it, we found creatures," says the farm owner. He sent a sample to Libya's Pest Control Centre who confirmed the presence of weevils and immediately dispatched a team to deal with them. "They set up traps, they did injections, they came one day every week for about three or four months, and then they came once every two weeks for a year," says Moftah. There are around six million palms trees spread over the country, producing an estimated 174,000 tonnes of dates a year - a main source of income for a large section of the population. If the weevils spread, the financial consequences would be devastating for farmers. "I was ready to destroy all the crops, It is important not to spread this pest, because if they spread to the south or in the oasis, God forbid, that means disaster, the 200 palm trees that we have here when compared to the ones in the south, they are nothing," says Moftah. Moftah's farm is not yet weevil-free and is still under quarantine. These dreaded beetles are an increasing threat to farms in Libya. Cases have been reported in Tripoli, Tobruk and Trahuna. "We will not let the infection spread," says Ali Abdullah, a member of the National Centre for Agricultural Prevention and Quarantine. He says his organisation is raising awareness of palm weevils through printed booklets, discussions and field visits so that farmers can learn to recognise the symptoms early. Libya has recently joined an international effort to combat red palm weevils, led by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Centre for Advanced Agricultural Studies of the Mediterranean and many other partners. The five-year project aims to avert a nationwide agricultural disaster. "Palm weevils have begun to spread, and this is called the palm cancer. The problem with this pest is that farmers can not recognise it until it has destroyed the trees," says Youssef Ben Gharsa, Libya National Coordinator of the UNFAO Program. As one of the target countries of the project, Libya will join the network of experts to combat the spread of red palm weevil. This network of experts will be coordinating the efforts to combat these insects and exchange experiences and data. The red palm weevil is one of the world's fastest spreading agricultural pest species and the most destructive, affecting more than 40 types of palm trees in the world. Red palm weevils were discovered in the Gulf region during the mid-1980s. Over the past three decades, the insects spread rapidly across the Middle East and North Africa, affecting nearly all countries in the region. Ben Gharsa says 2.1 million US dollars has been allocated to the UN's Middle East and North Africa weevil project. But he says Libya must start to take responsibility for protecting its palms itself. "We shouldn't be fully dependent on international organisations to save the wealth of Libya, because it needs funding," he says. The red weevil is native to Asia and grow to around 35 mm long. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/9253f78cd14b5682794b3f6b8933bb21
