Comparative study of the effect of different treatments on infestation development by the red palm weevil Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier) in Tunisia

Since its entry into Tunisia in 2010, the red palm weevil has dispersed to many parts of the country and killed thousands of canary palms. The purpose of this study is to test several treatment models of RPW control strategies in order to deduce which strategy is the most effective, efficient, ecological and least expensive. These experiments lasted one year and according to the obtained results, the foliar treatments can be reduced from 12 times to 8 times only without having any difference in the evolution of the infestation of this pest. It can have less environmental impact and can make more money. Endotherapy demonstrate a relevant efficacy in the treatment of palm trees, except that specialists should do it in accordance with the rules of the art. Confidor 200 SL prove to be efficacious because the treated palms have not evolved only from 3 months of treatment, so the latter is effective for a duration of only 3 months, Furthermore, the Pro Act 50 CE has at least 7 months of palm protection. On the other hand, foliar treatment in combination with endotherapy did not significantly change the results compared to endotherapy alone. Using pheromone traps with foliar treatments and endotherapies with confidor 200 SL did not show much of a difference from endotherapy alone. In the case of the Pro Act 50 EC, there is no major difference either. Using traps, foliar treatments should be performed to protect the palms from new infestations by females that have won the palms without the traps. This triple treatment in the long term proves effective. Finally, for all stage 4 palms (umbrella) no treatment is curative.