Amman, April 29 (Petra) – Ministry of Agriculture has embarked on implementing the National Integrated Olive Pest Management Plan for the current season.

The initiative comes in cooperation with the field agriculture directorates nationwide to curb spread of the olive fruit fly and other pests.

In remarks to "Petra" Wednesday, Head of the Ministry's Agricultural Pest Control Department, Mansour Shuqairat, said the plan features issuing circulars to the agriculture directorates to monitor emergence of olive pests, mainly the olive fruit fly, and guide farmers on prevention and control methods.

The plan, he noted, aims to conduct joint field visits to monitor pest emergence and take "immediate" control measures.

Shuqairat added that the ministry has issued technical bulletins and awareness booklets on olive tree pests and control methods.

Additionally, he stated the ministry has conducted 16 training courses to educate farmers on proper monitoring methods by using yellow sticky and food attractant traps, aimed to produce "high-quality olives free from pesticide residues." Shuqairat added that the Ministry provided the agricultural directorates with 35,000 yellow color traps for free distribution to farmers, at a rate of 1 trap per dunam for monitoring and 5 traps per dunam for controlling purposes.

The ministry also supplied 1,460 liters/kg of insecticides and fungicides to implement campaigns to combat olive psyllids, olive fruit flies, olive knot disease, peacock spot, and bark beetles, according to their areas of prevalence, he pointed out.

On a related front, he said Plant Protection and Health Directorate will continue to supply the directorates with food traps and troulast to mass capture adult olive fruit flies during the current season.

The directorate will also provide the necessary equipment for control campaigns, including agricultural machinery, pesticides, and personal protective kits for workers, to conduct mass control campaigns until the beginning of August, he said.

Shuqairat indicated that the directorate is cooperating with agricultural colleges in Jordanian universities and international organizations to conduct scientific experiments and laboratory tests for cases that are difficult to diagnose in the field.

This effort, he stated, is part of the ministry’s efforts to protect the olive crop, which constitutes a "fundamental pillar" in the Jordanian agricultural sector.

//Petra// AG