"Abu Dhabi Agriculture" It enhances its efforts to protect the agricultural sector from pests and enhance biological security
Abu Dhabi, May 12/ WAM/ The Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority affirmed on the occasion of the International Day of Plant Health, which falls on May 12 of each year, its commitment to implementing a set of initiatives, projects and programs concerned with maintaining plant health and fighting diseases and pests that threaten them, in a manner that ensures the sustainability of the agricultural sector in the emirate.
The Authority’s efforts to maintain the health of the plant include a periodic examination of agricultural crops through the indicative visits of farms, the integrated pest control programs using modern technologies, in addition to organizing awareness and training programs.
The authority adopts a comprehensive strategy to enhance biological security, both vegetable and animal in the emirate. In the field of plant health, specialized programs are applied to control agricultural pests, the most prominent of which is the integrated managing program for palm lesions.
This program aims to combat the main palm lesions, such as red palm weevil, leg excavations, taste, donkey and dust, with environmentally safe methods and compatible with the principles of integrated pest management, in a manner that reduces economic damage and maintains the ecosystem.
The authority pays special attention to palm trees due to its strategic importance in the national heritage and its role in preserving environmental diversity, promoting food security and dates production.
Within the framework of combating red palm weevil, the authority implements several programs targeting the various phases of the insect, the most important of which is the intensive fishing program that depends on the use of Framel traps to monitor and combat adult insects.
The authority also implements a program for wiping palm with red palm weevils and excavators, which is considered one of the basic pillars of pest control efforts.
The survey operations carried out by the authority between 2019 and 2024 led to the discovery and treatment of 267 thousand and 428 palm trees with red palm weevils using chemical and organic pesticides by 100%.
The program aims to eliminate the phases of the insect that feeds on palm tissues, which contributed to reducing the numbers of the affected palm.
The authority adopts the concept of integrated pest control management, which combines economic and environmental practices to eliminate pests and diseases in sustainable ways and reduce their risk of crops.
The integrated managing program for palm lesions includes several steps that start with preventive measures to protect trees, and they range towards the use of pesticides or the removal of trees with severely when necessary.
The Authority has developed a plan for the emergency response of agricultural pests to enhance plant health and control pests and pathogens in the farms of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, as this is an essential part of the biological security system.
These efforts contributed to enhancing the position of the UAE and the Emirate of Abu Dhabi among the countries most prepared to face agricultural pests.
The authority is keen to adopt best modern and innovative practices and technologies in the field of agriculture, implement pest control programs through periodic surveys, and to educate and train farmers on the agricultural operations needed to reduce pest infection.
The authority also built a database for the main agricultural pests in the emirate and issued a record of agricultural pests, which is a scientific reference and a guiding document for researchers and farmers.
The authority also encourages the use of biological control systems for pests to reduce the use of chemical pesticides and preserve the environment.
The agricultural quarantine is the first line of defense in the face of agricultural pests, as it is based on a legislative system and measures to control the movement of agricultural materials and prevent the transfer of pests to the infected areas, in addition to controlling the affected foci and preventing their spread.
The Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority has laboratories equipped with the highest standards and laboratory examination techniques to enhance the system of alert and respond to emergency related to agricultural pests, in addition to a group of specialized experts and three research stations that work to examine and diagnose pests in open fields and protected homes, and their results are used in control programs and selection of vegetable varieties resistant to diseases and pests To achieve the highest productivity of agricultural crops.
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