Weevil problem

Date farmers hate weevil. The tiny red insects do their destructive work in secret, burrowing into palm trunks and devouring a tree from within.

Infestations go unnoticed until it is too late.,when the weevils have hollowed out the trunk and the tree collapses of its own weight or is blown over by a breeze.

After intensive research ,the MoE and Water has come out with a solution. The aim of the research was to avoid using chemicals .:Using a carefully devised concoction that included pheromones and date oil that lures the pests away from the trees and into traps.The pheromones mixed with date oil and tree chips make trap more attractive than the trees from the weevil’s perspective. The insects are lured into bucket sized containers half buried in the sand in date groves where they then drown in a small quantity of water.One trap can draw weevils from 100 trees.
Courtesy: The National