How Abu Dhabi protects UAE’s national treasure of date palm trees from pests

Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (ADAFSA) is currently executing an integrated approach to strengthen the biosecurity system across the emirate regarding animal and plant health. Moreover, the Authority is implementing numerous programmes to manage agricultural pests, such as the Integrated Management of Palm Pests initiative. This programme controls palm tree pests in environmentally friendly ways, adhering to integrated pest management guidelines. It also minimises economic damage caused by pests, reduces environmental pollution, and preserves the ecosystem by avoiding the indiscriminate use of agricultural pesticides. These programmes address the most significant palm pests, such as red palm weevils, long-horn stem borer, fruit stalk borer, lesser date moth and date palm dust mite. This is to safeguard the national treasure of palm trees, given their strategic significance in the emirate’s cultural heritage. Additionally, preserving palm trees and ...