ADFSC confirms support for date palm farmers at Liwa Date Festival

Abu Dhabi Farmers' Services Centre is continuing its support of the date palm industry at this year's Liwa Date Festival, now in its 11th year, from 22nd to 30th July, in Liwa City in the Western Region.

Representatives from ADFSC will be in Liwa throughout the festival discussing their progress in controlling harmful pests that attack palm trees, especially the red palm weevil.

"ADFSC succeeded in capturing and killing 4.18 million red palm weevils between January 2013 and June 2015, including 2.3 million in Al Ain, 1.4 million in the Western Region and 436 thousand in Abu Dhabi farms," said Ahmed Al Suwaidi, ADFSC Communications Section Manager.

The pest control campaign benefited over 21, 000 farms, half of which are located in Al Ain, and ADFSC Extension Engineers performed over 615,000 farm visits in order to raise awareness and correctly install and maintain pheromone traps.

Abu Dhabi Farmers' Services Centre are participating in the Liwa Date Festival in order to meet local farm owners, provide advice on date palm care, and circulate details on services that improve the date quality and protect trees from pests, including the Date Palm Services Contract.

"The exhibition represents an ideal opportunity to communicate directly with farmers," said Al Suwaidi. "We aim to enhance farmers' capabilities and help them technically to adopt good agricultural practices, which ensures the preservation of natural resources, improves productivity, and increases yield."

The festival encourages farmers to compete in a number of events including best fresh date, date beauty contest, date auction and other competitions for the best lemons and mangoes. A heritage show also runs alongside the Liwa Date Festival.