Integrated Pest Management of Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier: An Efficient Approach to Reduce Infestation in Date Palm Trees

Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L) is an essential fruit crop that is widely grown since ancient times in the desert areas of the world comprising the Southwest Asia, North Africa besides Mexico, Australia, South America, and United States. A number of insect pests including red palm weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier) that is a devastating insect attacking palm trees. It is very difficult to control as its entire lifecycle is hidden inside the host trunk. To overcome this pest, integrated pest management program (IPM) strategy can be adopted that includes visual inspection, behavior management through pheromones, sanitation of the crop and field, removal of the infested frond and offshoot, eradicating the concealed breeding sites of the pest. IPM also include cultural techniques comprising in-groove humidity and palm density, judicious use of insecticides, using biological control agents including entomopathogenic fungi, nematodes as well as adopting the regulatory methods of domestic and international quarantine. This paper provides updated information about IPM, which look like a promising paradigm that can be adopted for the control of red palm weevil.