Rhynchophorus Ferrugineus oliver and Its Economic Negative Impact on Palm and Production of Date in Qassim

The Kingdom second in the world in dates production, after the United Arab Emirates, which strengthens the position of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries as the largest countries in the production of dates, and Iraq is in third place, representing 25% of the world production.
The Government of the Kingdom has recognized the importance of dates as a national strategic crop with its nutritional value and economic importance and its role in achieving national food security. It has prepared many incentive programs that support investment in the production and processing of dates in the Kingdom. The most important of these are the granting of medium- For farmers to purchase machinery, pumps, irrigation systems and agricultural equipment, subsidize agricultural equipment and irrigation equipment and grant agricultural licenses for palm projects. The agricultural sector is a productive sector and contributes effectively to the GDP with a capital of about 54 billion riyals and an area of ​​about 700 thousand hectares in 2016. The Qassim region is considered one of the agricultural areas in Saudi Arabia which is characterized by abundant groundwater and arable land, Cultivation of date palms with high date productivity.
With regard to the history of date palm trees in Saudi Arabia, it is noted that it has achieved a global position in the field of date palm cultivation and date production, in terms of palm growing, number and quantity of production. It is one of the largest palm branches in the world, producing annually 1,122 million tons of more than 25 million Palm. The Qassim region is the second largest in the Kingdom, producing more than 6 million palm trees.
Therefore, the Ministry of Agriculture and the competent authorities and farmers are seeking to protect date palms from the diseases that afflict it, especially the insect pests that kill it and make the farmers lose many palm trees annually.
The problem is the negative economic effects of palm trees by palm weevil, which reduces date production in the Qassim region during the period 2010-2016. It has been shown that it leads to a decrease in production and productivity and low incomes of farmers due to high resistance costs in Qassim region, the main objective of the research is to shed light on the negative economic effects of palm Rhynchophorus Ferrugineus oliver on production. Preliminary data sources were obtained through the use of a questionnaire Survey for a random sample (30 farms) and interviews of date farmers in the region, as well as secondary data sources represented in books, references, annual reports and the International Information Network.
The study found that a large number of palm tree farms were destroyed and the production of tuna was reduced. Thus, the quantity of dates produced decreased. The study also found that the costs of the eradication of Rhynchophorus Ferrugineus oliver amounted to SR 127,800 million in the season. The study recommended the need to control the Rhynchophorus Ferrugineus oliver and to reduce their spread by raising farmers' awareness of the importance of resistance to Rhynchophorus Ferrugineus oliver when preparing for the agricultural season