The Ministry of Environment and Water has organized a training session on the latest methods for fighting date palm diseases at the Hilton Hotel and Resort in Ras Al Khaimah. It was attended by 31 engineers, agricultural guides and technicians from the Ministry.
The session forms part of the Ministry’s “Nakheelna" (our palm trees) initiative and is the second phase of a national campaign aimed at fighting the red date palm weevil. This campaign was launched in October 2009 under the directives of Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs. It reinforces nationwide efforts to raise awareness on date palm agriculture in keeping with the wise policy of our founding father, God rest his soul, Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan. His Highness paid careful attention to agriculture in general and to planting date palms in particular; he believed in ensuring the sustainability of date palms and boosting their contribution to the UAE’s food security agenda.
The training session reflects the commitment of the Ministry of Environment and Water to train and qualify the technical staff and employees of its local agriculture authorities on the latest field methods and technologies used in fighting agricultural diseases, particularly the use of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) measures. The session focused on the significance of monitoring date palm diseases according to the place and time of infection, the nature of damages, and environmentally-safe preventive methods as well as their economic aspects. It noted the dangers of using chemicals to combat diseases and the elements of biological methods to fight date palm maladies.
The training session was also accompanied by an exhibition on the latest techniques under the “Nakheelna" initiative. An early-detection device for infections and a GPS system to take coordinates of farms covered by the initiative was displayed. There was also a demonstration on the safe use of pesticides and the use of photocell systems to reduce energy consumption and decrease carbon footprint.
The “Nakheelna" initiative aims to improve control of date palm pests via Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and to boost the contributions of date palm planting and production and affiliated industries to the national income. The initiative supports the role of date palm planting in diversifying income sources by improving product quality, developing a modern, reliable and accurate palm planting database, and maintaining high levels of quality and production in the UAE.
The initiative also relies on the application of an integrated collection of procedures and mechanisms and deploys the latest systems and techniques in pest detection and control, the treatment of infected trees, the provision of technical guidance, and the enhancement of capabilities. Furthermore, it facilitates communication with palm farmers and agricultural guidance on the significance of integrated measures against palm pests in order to achieve world-class levels of control.
“Nakheelna" has four main objectives: the maintenance of pheromone and photocell traps; local treatment of the red date palm weevil; control of the red palm weevil in Date Palm; and the use of modern techniques in implementing the project and training personnel.
In 2013, the scope of the initiative was extended to include three agricultural areas (northern, eastern and middle) with the involvement of a technical team of 21 squads with an average of 63 technicians each. These squads are responsible for maintaining 20,000 pheromone traps at a rate of two visits per trap per month. The staff replaces the food material of the trap and the aggregate pheromone, collects and categorizes pests and disposes of them safely, and tracks the traps which are installed in every other 100 palm trees.
A total of 3,000 photocells traps equipped with photocells will be maintained as part of the initiative. The squads will visit these traps twice a month, enter the data of the trap's geographic location into the GPS system, and preserve the information in an electronic system. The Ministry of Environment and Water adopts a localized treatment system for infected palm trees that combats some of the most destructive palm pests such as the red palm weevil.