Protecting date palm

Manama : The Arabian Gulf University (AGU) is all set to host in its premises in Manama the first International Conference on Integrated Protection of Date Palm. The event will be organised by the International Organisation for Biological and Integrated Control (IOBC-WPRS) in co-operation with AGU, the National Initiative for the Agriculture Sector, and is expected to witness large participation by international and Arab persons. Chairman of the Organising Committee of the Conference and Chairman of the Department of Life Sciences at AGU, Dr Abdulaziz Mohammed Abdulkarim said that this conference, which is sponsored by the President of AGU, Dr Khalid bin Abdulrahman Al-Ohaly, is a result of co-operation of many international and national parties, held with the strategic partnership with Tamkeen, and the United Nations Environment Programme UNEP, and the support of the Gulf Petrochemical company GPIC. The event aims to reach the latest modern scientific methods for integrated protection of date palms, and will address topics such as the types of date palm pests and different methods of pest control for palms using farming and bio-chemical techniques. In addition, integrated management strategies for pest control will be discussed, and alternatives to chemical pesticides, such as methyl bromide, as well as biotechnology and its applications in the field of pest control and the advantage of remote sensing techniques to identify and monitor areas of date palm pests spreading. The opening words will be delivered by Dr David Hogg of the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the United States of America, and Dr Abdul Rahman Farajallah from BMC University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The scientific sessions will be opened by the PhD papers of Dr Jose Valerio from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation FAO, and Dr Luis Lopez of Kantian University in Spain, along with Dr Mohamed Basari from the Mohammed V University in Morocco. Dr Abdulkarim further explained that besides these, the conference involves 70 participants from outside Bahrain, stating that the event will also present 56 scientific papers submitted by participants from the GCC, Jordan, Palestine, Egypt, Sudan, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and Pakistan, in addition to India, Spain, the United States of America. He provided an overview of the different date palm pests to be addressed by the conference, including eggs disease, which is one of the fungal diseases transmitted through the soil to the palm and is one of the most dangerous diseases that threaten date palms, causing the death of millions of palm trees in the Arab Maghreb countries. Also, the red palm weevil, which is one of the most dangerous insect pests of the date palm due to the difficulty in discovering it in its early stages. Researchers at AGU are working on ways to combat the red palm weevil. Some of AGU’s endeavours are using remote sensing technology to monitor the spread of the insect and identifying the affected palm trees. AGU is also preparing another study about the relationship between the microscopic organisms that inhabit the red palm weevil insect, in order to limit its effectiveness, by identifying the bacteria that help digest complex palm date fibre, which is its main source of food. This conference marks the beginning of the work of the team of integrated protection of date palms within international coordination of crop protection programmes and the International organisation of biocontrol. The work team of the integrated protection of date palms aims to promote scientific research and technical development and training of researchers, specialists, technicians, and those interested in the private sector in integrated pest management activities, and active pest control in date palm groves and packaging and storage houses.