Pest control spraying to begin this week

The Eastern Agricultural Zone in Fujairah will start this week the spraying of palm trees in more than 300 farms on the East Coast to get rid of the 'Al Dibbas' insect which usually attacks trees at this time of the year.

Ibrahim Abdul Rahman, Director of the Eastern Agricultural Zone, said that they will start spraying as soon as the strong winds subside.

"We have met several engineers in the region to discuss their reports on the palm trees affected by the 'Al Dibbas' insects," said Abdul Rahman.

He pointed out that the affected palm trees are on the farms of all the six agricultural centres along the East Coast. Each centre includes between 200 and 300 farms.

"The spraying operations will start this week using trucks which carry sprays full of insecticides to fight this insect. The spraying is expected to run for one-and-a-half months," he added.

He noted that the spraying of insecticides will help protect the trees, especially palm trees, against the 'Al Dibbas' insects which usually appear in spring and autumn.

"The spraying will continue until we make sure that we have completely controlled this insect in order to have a good production of high quality dates," Abdul Rahman explained.

The trucks will spray the insecticides on the farms of the East Coast in Kalba, Wadi Sahm, Turaif, Uhfara, Wadi Mai, Uhala, Al Rughailat, Al Ghurfa, Al Shirya, Sakumkum, Al Ferfar, Madouk, Al Hail, Al Qurayyah, Murbeh and Qidfa areas.

"We urge the farmers of the East Coast to keep away from the farms during the spraying operation, to cover the water wells at the farms, to keep cattle away from the sprayed grass, and not to undertake any harvesting for seven days after spraying," Abdul Rahman advised.