**6. A case study of organic date palms**

There are about 100 million date palms in the world mostly distributed in Asia and North Africa, producing 7.78 million ton of dates annually [25]. The international famous date palm cultivars include Medjool, Deglet Noor, Barhee, Halawy, Khalas, and Khadrawy. Organic dates are now produced in many countries around the world including Tunisia, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Sudan, Iran, Algeria, and the USA. Date palm, whether grown conventionally or organically, has numerous pests and diseases including 132 species of arthropod (insects and mites), 52 vertebrate pests (birds, rodents, bats), and 28 non-arthropod pests (slugs and snails, parasitic nematode) [26, 27]. Additionally, more than 16 important fungal, phytoplasma, and unidentified diseases attack the date palm. The major ones include Bayoud, black scorch, *Diplodia*, Khamedj inflorescence rot, Belaat, graphiola leaf spot, Al-Wijam disease, brittle leaf disease, and Faroun disease [28]. These pests and diseases may cause substantial losses in date palm groves if left unmanaged. Therefore, a well-planned and supervised pest management program is important to maintain a sustainable date palm production in organic farming system. Some examples of injuries inflicted by pests on date palm and dates are shown in **Figures 1** and **2**.

Date palm pests of economic important in organic farming could be prevented through an IPM program comprising the following components: selection of planning materials, pest monitoring, cultural management, and conservation of natural enemies of pests.
