A team of researchers at the Agriculture and Research Department (ARD) at the Ministry of Environment (MoE) has managed to isolate the fungi that cause patches on date palm fronds, it was announced yesterday.
The achievement has come within an Exceptional Proposal programme entitled ‘Establishing World Leadership in Date Palm Research in Qatar,’ funded by Qatar National Research Fund’s National Priorities Research Programme that provided $4.5mn to the research.
The ARD researchers were working together with a team from Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, which had earlier this year published the first genetic map of the date palm, paving the way for Qatar to become a leader in date palm genetics and biotechnology.
The researchers also isolated some micro-organisms from the same environment with the ability to fight the newly discovered fungi by way of biological resistance. This would decrease dependency on pesticides and accordingly help in maintaining a cleaner environment.
