Springer Sustainable Pest Management in Date Palm: Current Status and Emerging Challenges (Sustainability in Plant and Crop Protection)

Date palm, Phoenix dactylifera L. (Arecales: Arecaceae), is an important palm species cultivated in the arid regions of the world since pre-historic times and traditionally associated with the life and culture of the people in the Middle-East and North Africa which are the pre-dominant date palm growing regions worldwide. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN estimates that there are over 100 million date palms with an annual production of over 7.5 million tonnes A recent report on the arthropod fauna of date palm, enlists 112 species of insects and mites associated with date palm worldwide including 22 species attacking stored dates. Enhanced monoculture of date palm in several date palm growing countries coupled with climate change, unrestrained use of chemical insecticides and extensive international trade is likely to impact the pest complex and the related natural enemies in the date agro-ecosystems. In view of the importance of date palm as an emerging crop of the future and the need to develop and deploy ecologically sound and socially acceptable IPM techniques, this book aims to comprehensively address issues related to the biology and sustainable management of major insect and mite pests of date palm by assessing the current IPM strategies available, besides addressing emerging challenges and future research priorities. The issues pertaining to the role of semiochemicals in date palm IPM involving new strategies revolving around “attract and kill” and “push-pull” technologies, phytoplasmas and their insect vectors with implications for date palm, innovative methods for managing storage pests of dates and knowledge gaps in devicing sustainable strategies for the management of red palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier) are also addressed From the Back Cover Date palm, Phoenix dactylifera L. (Arecales: Arecaceae), is an important palm species cultivated since pre-historic times in the arid regions of the world and traditionally associated with the life and culture of the people in the Middle-East and North Africa which are the pre-dominant date palm growing regions worldwide. The crop is currently cultivated in nearly 30 countries in the Asian, African, American and Australasian continents. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN estimates that there are over 100 million date palms world wide with an annual production of over 7.5 million tonnes Date palm is attacked by a wide range of insect pests mainly from the orders Coleoptera, Lepidoptera and Hemiptera besides phytophagous mites, several of which cause substantial loss in yield and even mortality of palms. During the last two decades there has been a significant increase in date palm cultivation worldwide especially in the Middle-East and North Africa where the area has increased over 50%, mostly in vast stretches of monoculture plantations offering a conducive macro and micro habitat for existing and emerging insect pests of date palm. Global warming together with rapid large scale movement of palm species for farming and ornamental gardening has compounded the threat of insect pests to date palm. Indiscriminate use of insecticides to control these pests as the first line of defense is of major concern in the date growing countries due to the inherent disadvantages of insecticidal residues in dates (affecting exports), development of resistance to insecticides in the target species and resurgence of minor pest to major insect pest associated with chemical control The book provides an overview on the biology (life cycle, damage, losses, geographical distribution, host range) and management (monitoring, action thresholds, biological control, chemical control, mechanical control, use of semiochemicals and biopesticides) of major arthropod pests of date palm from the orders Coleoptera (red palm weevil, long horn beetle, rhinoceros beetle, frond borer, sap beetles), Hemiptera (dubas bug, issid bug, scale insects, me