Speaking with Tunisie Numérique, member of the National Executive Office of the Farmers Union and in charge of biological agriculture Adel Karim shared today, Tuesday, June 4, 2024, that the latest developments in the spread of the cochineal insect in Tunisia, noting that the epidemic has now reached 10 governorates, according to the latest report issued by the Ministry of Agriculture.
Karim added that the epidemic spread about a week ago in Kasserine and Nabeul, which are considered among the significant and structural regions for prickly pear cultivation in Tunisia, as their area represents one-fifth of the total area of this fruit in Tunisia. Adding that the measures approved by the Ministry of Agriculture were rather late and will not be able to fight the spread of this insect.
The same source also revealed that the Ministry was invited to adopt the alternative solution of crushing prickly pear samples that are resistant to the cochineal insect, and it responded to this and started conducting field experiments while awaiting their distribution to farmers, remarking that this solution had previously been adopted by Morocco and had demonstrated its effectiveness.
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