Red Palm Weevil

Picudo Rojo

The Consejeria of Agricultura and Water, are preparing a proposal  to work in conjunction with MARM, The Ministry of Medio Ambiente and Medio Rural  to co-finance the disposal of trees infected with the Picudo Rojo, Red palm weevil.

 

The CEO for  Modernization of Farms and Agriculture,  Ángel García Lidón, said that "the red palm weevil  has spread quickly throughout the Mediterranean area, to colonize large parts of Italy, France, Greece, Malta, Turkey and more recently, Morocco, among other countries. " The Plant Health Committee of the European Union,  "recognizes that the measures so far have not resulted in the eradication or containment of the pest. "

 

Although the Red palm Weevil has been present in palm populations for a long time, it's wide-scale distribution throughout the continent has occurred due to the demand for imported palms across Europe, as cosmopolitan and chic cities seeking to present a Mediterranean ambience imported large volumes of palms from Egypt, some without quarantining or carrying out health checks prior to plantation.

The construction of residential urbanisations across Spain, all of which are decorated with the mandatory presence of a waving palm, have exacerbated the problem by creating fertile breeding grounds for the pest, and it has spread virtually unchecked, with many thousands of trees in the region of Murcia now affected.

Since  May 2006 the Ministry of agriculture have sprayed more than 200,000 trees , given endotherapy injections to 3000 and removed more than 4.500 trees, at a cost of more than 5 million euros, which was financed jointly by the regional government and MARM
This year, however, money was only paid by MARM up until May 2009 and there are no public funds available currently for the removal of affected trees.

This may explain to many residents why their neighbours trees were removed at no cost, but why they are now having to pay out themselves to remove their own trees. 

This responsibility is now being left entirely to the tree owners, with the result that infected trees are exacerbating the spread of the palm weevil, and that some owners have been choosing to save money and dump trees in the campo rather than pay for them to be disposed of professionally 

This new proposal is that once trees have been felled, the Consejeria will again assume responsibility for the removal and incineration of the remains, although there is no mention in the paper of preventative measures.

 Although it would be a great relief to residents were infected trees removed once again, this still fails to address the issue of preventative action, without which the future of the palm tree in Murcia is under  threat.

It's difficult to imagine Murcia without Palm Trees, but this could become reality if something isn't done to prevent the wholesale destruction of trees across the region.

 

 

In the meantime, click Red Palm Weevil to take you to an article written recently which tells you how to dispose of infected trees legally.

If you would like more information about the symptoms of Picudo Rojo/ Red Palm Weevil, click to go through to our Gardening in Spain pages where we have prepared a full report for you.

 

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