Sudan Thematic Implementation Plan for the Management of Invasive Red Palm Weevil (RPW), Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier)

Abstract

Date palm (Phoenix dactlylifera L.) is believed to be cultivated in northern Sudan and upper Nubia since 3200 BC. Dry date cultivars might have originated in Southern Egypt and Northern Sudan. Date palm is an economic and food security crop in Sudan. Estimated annual date production from 8 million date palm trees is about 431,000 mt, which is far below the country’s potential, that has been famous in the world for the production of dry dates. Six suitable local commercial cultivars are available, and research yielded a better composition of cultivars by local selection and foreign introduction from tissue culture laboratories. Sudan is still free from-devastating red palm weevil (RPW) and the destructive bayoud caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. albedensis. RPW, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier), is a category-1 pest on date palms in Middle-East countries. It is one of the biggest threats to global agriculture of these days. These little crimson pests eviscerate coconut, date and oil palms. They are native to South Asia. Over the last three decades, the pest spread to more than 60 countries from the Caribbean to Southern Europe. For farmers across East Asia, North Africa, Europe and the Middle East, the red palm weevil evokes serious anxiety. These pests, which attack 40 different species of palms, have caused economic losses in the millions of dollars annually, worldwide. One female weevil can lay up to 300 eggs – hiding them inside holes and cavities in the trunk of a palm. Once they hatch, the larvae burrow deep inside the palms, munching their way through the tree, and destroying it from the inside. Sudan is expecting that RPW would eventually come. The thematic implementation plan is the major component of a strategy to be adopted for a country that is not infested with RPW. It involves (1) Quarantine, (2) Monitoring/Surveillance and (3) Training/Capacity Building. Here are discussed some points that could be adopted to strengthen the components mentioned above should an infestation occur in Sudan. In this case, the strategy should aim at containing the spread and eradicating the pest.