Technical Support for Surveillance and Management of Red Palm Weevil Rhyncophorus Ferrugineus - TCP/IRQ/3602
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Date palm plantations in Iraq face many obstacles, such as pests, drought, high production costs, low market prices and urban expansion. Most of these obstacles are rather difficult to solve in the short term, yet others, such as pests need to be managed immediately. Among these pests, Red Palm Weevil (RPW), which has recently invaded the country, is a real threat to Iraq’s date palm wealth. RPW has significant socio-economic impact and consequences on the date palm production sector, and on the livelihoods of farmers who depend mainly on date palm production in affected areas. Failure in the control of the pest would not only increase production costs of date palm in Iraq, it would also discourage farmers and date palm growers, eventually forcing them to neglect date palm orchards. The main challenges of RPW management include difficulties in the early detection of infestation, lack of experience and limited extension capabilities, inadequate enforcement of plant quarantine regulations, and awareness among farmers on risk and preventive/management measures. Based on actual field monitoring data conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), for over 20 years Iraq was free of RPW, but in October 2015, two spots of infestation were detected by the Directorate of Agriculture team in Safwan Province, Basra, approximately three kilometres from Iraq-Kuwait borders. Against this background, the MoA, in coordination with the Basra Directorate of Agriculture, immediately took a number of legislative and management measures to curtail the problem, which was considered as phase one. This project aimed to