| 25 Oct 2007 |
|
Syrian delegation familiarised with anti-red palm weevil programme
- Text size
AMMAN - A Syrian delegation is currently in Jordan to become acquainted with the Kingdom's experience in fighting the red palm weevil, an insect that attacks palm trees, an Agriculture Ministry official said on Wednesday.
Fida Rawabdeh, who heads the ministry's palm trees programme, said the insect was first spotted in May 1999 in a palm farm in the Jordan Valley.
"The ministry immediately carried out field surveillance of all palm farms in the country and distributed special traps in order to fight the pests," Rawabdeh told The Jordan Times.
As a result, she added, three farms where the insect was discovered were put under intense supervision to ensure that the disease would not spread to other farms.
Yesterday, the Syrian delegates toured two palm farms in the Jordan Valley where the insect was first spotted and were briefed on procedures the government took to prevent it from spreading.
Today, the delegation is scheduled to visit laboratories in Baqaa where they will be briefed on implementation of the extermination programme, said Rawabdeh.
"The programme uses a fungus that eventually kills the weevils," she said, adding that the ministry started isolating this type of fungus after the procedure was proven successful in the UAE.
Rawabdeh noted that the delegation will be briefed on the role played by the ministry's staff in raising awareness among local farmers about the proper means of fighting and handling the pests.
"The team will also visit the Deir Alla lab, which monitors palm farms in the Kingdom and combats the red palm weevil wherever it is found. The lab also provides farmers with traps free of charge, she added.
The ministry also took several precautionary measures, including banning imports from countries where the red weevil has been discovered.
Currently, palm tree importers must provide the ministry with a certificate guaranteeing that their goods are not diseased before they are authorised to import palm seedlings.
By Hani Hazaimeh
© Jordan Times 2007
Zawya is a distributor (and not a publisher) of content supplied by third parties and subscribers. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers, or other information or content expressed or made available by those third parties, including information providers, subscribers or other users of the Service, are those of the respective author(s) or distributor(s) and not of the Company. The Company neither endorses nor is responsible for the accuracy or reliability of any opinion, advice or statement made on the Service by anyone other than authorized Service employee spokespersons while acting in their official capacities. The Company is not responsible for any infringement of intellectual property rights or breach of any applicable law or regulation, including regulation in relation to financial services or the distribution of financial products, defamation, data protection, telecommunications (including regulations relating to excessive use, spamming or other abusive activities) or obscene, offensive or illegal content). Under no circumstances will the Company be liable for any loss or damage caused by a member's reliance on information obtained through the Service. It is the responsibility of member to evaluate the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information, opinion, advice or other content available through the Service. Please seek the advice of professionals, as appropriate, regarding the evaluation of any specific information, opinion, advice or other content.
Read the full Member Agreement
http://www.zawya.com/legal/NewsLetter.cfm?name=disclaimer
Post a Comment
1.1 Contain any material which is libelous or defamatory of any person, is obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory or causes damage to the reputation of any person or organisation.
1.2 Promote sexually explicit material, violence, discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age or any illegal activity.
1.3 Be made in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or a duty of confidence.
1.4 Be threatening, abuse or invade another's privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety.
1.5 Be used to impersonate any person, to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person, or be likely to deceive any person.
1.6 Give the impression that they represent Zawya.
1.7 Advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act such as (by way of example only) copyright infringement or computer misuse.