**Acknowledgements**

*Invasive Species - Introduction Pathways, Economic Impact, and Possible Management Options*

managing the RPW. A global platform is being established for mapping field data

The lack of biological control agents against RPW that are field worthy is another major concern. Although there are known biological control agents for RPW, delivery to the target site inside the palm and sustainability of these agents needs to be addressed. Furthermore, the importance of adopting the best agrotechniques related to palm density, frond and offshoot removal and irrigation practices is underestimated. There is scope to conduct research on these aspects to quantify the relationship between these factors and the incidence and severity of RPW. Host plant resistance against RPW is also not very well understood and offers a whole new area of exploration where the traditional plant breeding techniques coupled with advanced molecular based breeding techniques could be used to induce resistance against RPW in the popular palm cultivars. The entire genome of the date palm cultivar 'Khalas' has been sequenced [108, 109]. This could facilitate the integration of genetic engineering techniques into date palm breeding programmes that provide mechanisms to overcome the current constraints to conventional breeding in date palm and help incorporate desirable traits of yield, quality

In several countries, the RPW-IPM programme is implemented largely by the state where farmers' participation is minimum or none. This impedes the performance and success of the strategy. Mechanisms need to be devised to increase farmers' participation in RPW-IPM programmes. In this context, Abdedaiem et al., [106] emphasized the need to take up socio-economic studies for enhancing farm-

During the last few years, there are several publications that have generated data on the cutting-edge molecular aspects of RPW involving RNAi, gene expression, etc. [111–114]. Results of these studies need to be exploited in a way that the control

Faleiro et al. [2] report that in recent years, a large number of new RPW-IPM tools (detectors, surveillance drones, pesticides, palm injectors, semiochemicals, biological control agents, palm shredders, microwave treatment devices, etc.) are available in the market. These IPM tools need proper testing and validation at the national and regional levels so that only field worthy technologies that are not costly

The red palm weevil remains to be the invasive key pest threatening palms survival around the world. International trading and transportation of infested planting material (palms) for plantations and landscape purposes are the main

At level-2 of the strategy, phytosanitation/quarantine is very important. The main gaps and challenges here are: (i) national/regional phytosanitary/quarantine regulations against RPW are not adequately implemented; (ii) treatment protocols to treat palms prior to transportation and also after arrival at destination are not consistent; (iii) implementation of the regulations is weak due to insufficient staff that is often not trained; and (iv) certified planting material is difficult to get [2, 37]. Recently, Chouibani [11] has addressed these concerns in the FAO guidelines on RPW management. Although chemical protocols available for quarantine purposes are available for date palm offshoots, the need to develop an effective treatment protocol to treat and sanitize large palms for ornamental gardening before transportation has to be addressed on priority. It is the responsibility of respective NPPOs to ensure imple-

and analytics for better decision-making.

mentation of the phytosanitary measures against RPW.

and resistance to abiotic and biotic stresses in date palm [110].

ers' involvement in the RPW control programme.

strategy stands to benefit from such basic research.

and easy to use are made available to the farmers.

**20**

**7. Conclusions**

The authors acknowledge and appreciate the financial support of this work provided by the Date Palm Research Center of Excellence, King Faisal University, through funding the research project number DPRC-9-2018.
