*6.1.1 Characteristics of a good date palm offshoot*


**145**

*Insect Pest Management in Organic Farming System DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.84483*

**6.2 Pest monitoring and mass trapping**

**6.3 Cultural management**

**Figure 3.**

*unhealthy planting materials.*

Monitoring of major date palm pests is essential for decision-making such as determination of economic threshold that largely help in starting control actions and avoidance of routine preventive treatments. Pheromone trapping could be used to determine population cycles and prediction of pest outbreaks. Pheromones can also be employed in mating disruption, attack and kill, and male inhalation techniques to reduce pest populations [30]. The same devices of pheromone and light traps can also be used for mass trapping of adult insect pests, particularly gravid

*Many important pests and diseases of date palm can be introduced into new areas through transporting* 

Services of date palm that are important in the management of pests and diseases include irrigation management, field sanitation, removal of weeds, organic fertilization, old frond pruning, frond base cutting, offshoots removal, pollination, fruit thinning, spines removal, fruit bagging, and harvesting. Each one of the abovementioned operations is carried out at specific time of the year with specific purpose; however, each operation can control palm pests and diseases in one way or another. Thus, adoption of date palm calendar for each locality will provide control of date palm pests and diseases.

Management of irrigation to avoid conditions that are congenial to the development of pests and diseases (e.g., red palm weevil) is an important soil conditioning practice in organic farming. Another important practice is maintaining soil health and nutrients to increase palm immunity against pests' attack, such as the longhorn beetle, which is known to inflict serious damage on weak unattended undernourished date palms. Healthy palms with balanced nutrients and irrigation withstand attack by this opportunistic insect pest. High humidity, which is conducive to the buildup of Dubas, is expected to prevail in densely planted orchards. High soil moisture (flood irrigation and basin irrigation) increases the infestation by the red palm weevil in date palm groves [32]. Care has to be taken when applying organic manure to newly transplanted date palm offshoots, because it may contain eggs and different stages of the rhinoceros beetles, which are considered serious pests of date palm. However, the organic manure can be disinfested from these grubs

females that lead to drastic reduction in pest population (**Figure 4**) [31].

*6.3.1 Organic fertilization and irrigation (soil condition)*

## **Figure 3.**

*Multifunctionality and Impacts of Organic and Conventional Agriculture*

infested offshoots and mature palms (**Figure 3**). Thus, application of preventive and protective controls through strict implementation of agricultural quarantine controls, as well as non-trading of any offshoots or infected palms, are essential for

*Fatal damage caused by the larvae of the longhorn beetle Jebusaea hammerschmidti on the apical meristem* 

a.Make sure that the offshoot belongs to the cultivar that is intended to be

grown. Selection should be made during harvesting time of the mother palm, because it is easy to identify the date palm cultivar from the characteristics of

b.The offshoot should be 3–4 years old, with length of approximately 1–1.5 m

e.The offshoot should be mature and hence will have a better chance of survival after transplanting. Bearing fruits and having daughter offshoots indicate the

f. Care must be taken not to wound the offshoot during detachment from the mother palm, as the wounds would predispose the offshoot for bacterial and fungal diseases, as well as for opportunistic insect pests such as the dynastic

and diameter of 25–35 cm with an average weight of 20–30 kg.

c.The offshoot should contain numerous undamaged roots.

d.The offshoot should be free of insect pests and diseases.

the establishment of new date palm plantation.

*6.1.1 Characteristics of a good date palm offshoot*

its fruit.

**Figure 2.**

*(Goumara) of a date palm.*

maturity of the offshoot.

beetles, termites, and red palm weevil.

**144**

*Many important pests and diseases of date palm can be introduced into new areas through transporting unhealthy planting materials.*

## **6.2 Pest monitoring and mass trapping**

Monitoring of major date palm pests is essential for decision-making such as determination of economic threshold that largely help in starting control actions and avoidance of routine preventive treatments. Pheromone trapping could be used to determine population cycles and prediction of pest outbreaks. Pheromones can also be employed in mating disruption, attack and kill, and male inhalation techniques to reduce pest populations [30]. The same devices of pheromone and light traps can also be used for mass trapping of adult insect pests, particularly gravid females that lead to drastic reduction in pest population (**Figure 4**) [31].
