Morocco has adopted an integrated national strategy backed by rigorous measures to preserve oases from pests such as the red palm weevil, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Rural Development, Water and Forests, Mohammed Sadiki, said Monday in Abu Dhabi.

Speaking at the ministerial meeting on efforts to combat the weevil, held on the occasion of the ministerial conference of date-producing and processing nations, Sadiki stressed that the urgent implementation of this national strategy has helped contain this pest in its source and to establish a binding legal framework for the fight which reinforces a set of urgent and mandatory measures for all stakeholders, in particular the ban on transplanting green plants in safe areas in the middle and outside of the oases.

Morocco has consolidated the national system for detecting this insect in all regions of the country, for an annual budget of 800,000 dollars, he added.

In addition to these measures, Sadiki noted that the ministry carries out inspections and a th
orough examination of palm trees suspected of being infected and deploys a net to capture the insect using pheromones and kairomones (mass trapping) in the infested area, in addition to preventive and curative chemical treatment operations, as well as the felling and incineration of contaminated palm trees.

Organized by the general secretariat of the Khalifa International Date Palm Award, in cooperation with the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), this event aims to monitor and evaluate the results of the integrated management project for the red palm weevil and the creation of an international body for the sustainable development of oases.

This year’s ministerial conference includes two high-level ministerial meetings, the first is dedicated to monitoring and evaluating the results of the integrated management of the red palm weevil project, while the second relates to preparation for the institutionalization of the Sustainable Oasis Initiative.

So
urce: Agency Morocaine De Presse