Integrated research programs for date palm pest management: New initiatives and future perspectives

Abstract

This article presents IPM (integrated insect pests management) of date palms towards sustainable food security in Saudi Arabia. It is a dissemination approaches on the management of red palm weevil (RPW), Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier., the most destructive insect pest of date palms, almond moth, Ephestia cautella Walker., a major pest of stored date fruits. The RPW IPM approaches include an early infestation detection using radar, infra red digital camera, resistogram, x-ray, and RPW DNA metal detector; date palm defense mechanism through RPW infested palm protein profiling; field application of chemical insecticide and natural product for RPW through injection and spray method; biology and behavior of RPW which includes preference of infestation and artificial diet studies; RPW diversity barcoding; molecular RPW control approaches by developing RNAi on vitellogenin (Vg) and Odorant Receptor (OR). The protection of date fruits from almond moth include pre harvest netting of date fruits; atmospheric modification-based control: temperature regimes and gases application; molecular approach on almond moth control by developing RNAi on vitellogenin (Vg) and sex pheromone biosynthesis pathway.