Review: Date palm arthropod pests and their management in Israel |
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Authors: | Daniel Blumberg |
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Institution: | (1) Dept. of Entomology, Agricultural Research Organization, The Volcani Center, 50250 Bet Dagan, Israel |
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Abstract: | This review summarizes the current knowledge on the distribution, natural history, economic importance and management of 16
major species of date palm pests in Israel. Another 15, rarely occurring, pest species are also identified. Research on the
date palm pests in Israel was initiated against a background of severe outbreaks of scale insects in the late 1950s. These
outbreaks were caused mainly by unrestrained use of organophosphates. This situation led to the gradual development of an
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program, which was implemented first against scale insects and later against fruit pests.
The IMP approach resulted in successful control of the scale insects, up to the present, whereas agrotechnical and crop management
procedures, including covering the fruit bunches with plastic nets and early harvesting of several date cultivars, were successfully
applied to achieve efficient control of the fruit moths. In addition, the use of chemical compounds in date plantations was
drastically reduced and restricted to heavy foci of pest infestation. In time, microbial control, mainly application ofBacillus thuringiensis products against the lesser date moth, and the use of pheromone traps for monitoring and controlling red palm weevil, enabled
further reductions in the use of synthetic insecticides. The overall change in pest management also significantly improved
the preservation of natural enemies of the pests in the plantations. Whereas in the 1950s the major problems were caused by
the parlatoria date scale and the green scale, in the early 2000s the key pests in date plantations in Israel are the lesser
date moth and sap beetles in most of the date-growing areas, and spider mites which are restricted to the Arava Valley. Future
management of the first two of these pests should rely on an improved monitoring system and integration of pheromone application
for reduction of the population and damage. Efforst should be made to prevent the red palm weevil, which currently is a potential
pest, from becoming an actual key pest in date plantations. |
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Keywords: | Biological control chemical control natural enemies pest management pheromones Phoenix dactylifera |
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