The Use of Phosphine as Curative Treatment Against Date Palm Borers

摘要

Seven species and subspecies of borers that belong to the insect family Coleoptera, seriously damage date palm, Phoenix dactylifera. These include the invasive red palm weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus), longhorn beetle (Jebusaea hammerschmidtii), the frond borer(Phonapate frontalis), the fruit stalk borer (Oryctes elegans), the root borer (O. agamemnon), the Arabian rhinoceros beetle (O. agamemnon arabicus), and the rhinoceros beetle (O. agamemnon matthiesseni). Borers inflict considerable damage on the date palmthat negatively affects yield and quality. Management tactics to alleviate borers' injury to date palm include removal of damaged tissues as mechanical sanitation, injection of palm with systemic insecticides, use of pheromone and light traps, and new formulations of semiochemicals. In recentyears, the application of aluminum phosphide as a fumigant against these borers has become very common in many date palm growing countries. This article was compiled to give insight into the impact of borers on date palm, the mechanism of phosphine intoxication to insects and the prospectof using phosphine for future management of major date palm pests. The negative impact of the borers complex on date palm has escalating in recent times. With phasing out of some powerful insecticides and the development of insect resistance against others, farmers resorted to frequent useof phosphine gas against palm borers. However, the gas has been applied without proper dosage and exposure time. Air-tightness, which is essential for successful fumigation, is not met. Accordingly, more fieldwork and research are needed to improve fumigation techniques of phosphine gas, elucidateits phytotoxicity to date palm before being recommended for the management of date palm borers.