Emirati woman creates application

Red palm weevils destroyed dozens of Farah Al Bastaki's date trees – but rather than get angry she is getting even. The Emirati has designed an educational family game that has evolved into an application that could save many other families' beloved palms. "I grew up with these palm trees and they were all around the house in Rashidiya,” said Ms Al Bastaki. "When the day came that I had to get rid of them, I was in shock. To me the trees were like a person. "When I was young they were short so I used to climb them. I used to wait every summer to pick and eat the dates. They were there even before I was born.” The red palm weevil is a species of snout beetle, also known as the Asian palm weevil or sago palm weevil, the larvae of which can dig holes a metre deep in the trunk of a tree, weakening and eventually killing the host plant. It was almost five years ago when Ms Al Bastaki was asked to uproot and dispose of all of her palm trees because they were infested with the weevil. "Before then I had never heard of the bugs and I later found out there was a cure and my trees weren't at an advanced stage. But it was too late. I had already gotten rid of my trees.” That is when she decided to design a game to educate the public on the pest. "I decided to name the game Red Bug for marketing purposes and for it to be easily memorised,” Ms Al Bastaki said. "Most of the programmes the ministries have are for farmers, but there is nothing for the families and no one had direct access to families who have palm trees in their back yards and private farms. "I started with a simple board game that I gave away for free during date exhibitions.” The board game was similar to Snakes and Ladders, but with the snakes replaced by red weevils. "After the positive feedback I got from parents I went to the second stage and decided to launch it electronically,” Ms Al Bastaki said. The app, available for Android and soon for iOS operating systems, features 10 mini-games revolving around the care of palm trees. It is in English and Arabic. "This game is for the whole family and for all ages, and for free,” Ms Al Bastaki said. Tasks in the game include watering, pruning and irrigating palm trees – and killing the red weevil. Chris Hirst, chief executive of the Abu Dhabi Farmers' Services Centre, praised Ms Al Bastaki's work. "Control of this pest will require a community-wide effort,” Mr Hirst said. "By designing this app she is helping to spread the message of the damage red palm weevils cause and how we can work together to control them.” More than 2.6 million red palm weevils have been captured and killed in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi and the Western Region since February last year. The centre said this was achieved with an emirate-wide programme using pheromone traps that are monitored and maintained on the farmers' behalf by ADFSC. More than 125,000 pheromone traps have been installed at 21,735 farms. Apart from the traps, controlling the pest requires an integrated approach, the centre said. Trunks must be cleaned and offshoots removed to minimise egg-laying sites and re-infestation. Soil conditioners must be applied to help control the weevil, and provide nutrients and microbes to strengthen the palms. Irrigation must be laid out in a way that limits re-infestation. If residents find the weevils in their palm trees, they should contact the centre at adfsc.ae. Source: The National