2010-11-28
Mazarron Town Council are running a presentation on Wednesday night about the Red Palm weevil /Picudo Rojo.
The presentation will take place at 6pm in the Salon de Actos of the Consistorio de Mazarron and will discuss the spread of the pest, it's coverage in the Municipio and the strategies which can be undertaken to control it.
The talk will be given by employees of the Town Hall, amongst which is Jose Tomas Gallego, and tecnicos from the Region of Murcias' agrarian division.
There is no charge for the talk and no pre-inscription.
Eds Note.
The talk will be in Spanish. We will attend and give a summary of the points discussed, but if you have specific queries it may be worth attending in person.
We have put a vast amount of copy on this site during the last year or so about the Red Palm Weevil. In brief, it is now spreading pretty much out of control as there is no money available to any of the councils to fight and control it, and the pest is starting to leave its favored phoenix canariensis palm and attack the date palms, and other types of palm.
The biggest problems are that it is not immediately obvious that a tree is infested and it can take some considerable time before the symptoms appear, by which time the insect can be off and infesting another tree.
This pest is widespread right across the region, spain, and throughout the Mediterranean.
There is no 100% effective means of preventing infestation, although as we reported last week, following a day at the technical course in Cartagena for professionals run by the researchers at Alicante University, spraying with chemicals is now being recommended, NOT as a preventative measure, but to minimize the risk of the insects being within the tree already, unbeknown to its' owners.
The main recommendations are:
Do NOT prune green /living branches. If you do, seal the cuts immediately with a standard pruning sealer, available from all agricultural suppliers and spray with chemicals to minimise excretion of the pheromone which attracts the weevil.
Spray as a precautionary measure.
Be extremely vigilant.
Do NOT dump trees which have been removed with infestation, they must be buried deeply or burnt in an accredited incineration plant.
If your neighbours trees have weevils, be pretty sure yours soon will have - adults can fly 3km without stopping, so will spread from one tree to another quickly.
As soon as you detect the first symptoms, spray with chemical treatments.
On the site in the gardening section and the news, you will find several articles.
There are several about the ongoing research into using fungal treatments and the fight to gain funds for the councils, but the main ones are:
Basic information about the Picudo Rojo, how to recognize symptoms, Click Picudo basic information
Original text from Town hall
EL MIÉRCOLES 1 DE DICIEMBRE, ‘I JORNADA TÉCNICA SOBRE EL PICUDO ROJO'
La charla, a la que están invitados todos los ciudadanos, tendrá lugar en el salón de actos del Ayuntamiento de Mazarrón
El miércoles 1 de diciembre, el municipio de Mazarrón acogerá la ‘I Jornada Técnica sobre Picudo Rojo' a las 18.00 horas en el salón de actos del Consistorio de Mazarrón.
Esta charla informativa, a la que están invitados todos los ciudadanos del municipio, está organizada por la Concejalía de Servicios del Ayuntamiento de Mazarrón.
La ponencia versará sobre la plaga del picudo rojo de las palmeras, detallando tanto su evolución como su situación en el municipio, así como las estrategias que se pueden llevar a cabo para su control y la normativa legal vigente.
Esta ponencia será impartida por técnicos del Ayuntamiento, entre los que se encontrará José Tomás Gallego, así como técnicos del Servicio de Sanidad Vegetal de la Dirección General de Modernización de Explotaciones y Capacitación Agraria de la Comunidad Autónoma de la Región de Murcia.
| Area | Town | Subject |
| South West Murcia.. | Mazarrón | Gardening in Murcia.. |
All Text and Images are Subject to Copyright |
