author(s)
Ayad A Al-Taweel, Ibrahim J Al-Jboory and Asaad A Hameed

abstract
Ephestia spp., E. cautella, E. figulilella and E. calidella are the most serious pests infest dates caused economic losses in the orchards and warehouses in Iraq which produces between 600-700 thousand tons of dates annually.In order to reduce this damage different pest control methods were selected using environmentally sound technologies such as Radiation, Egg and larva parasitoids, pheromone and mating disruption and Inesfly paint. The results of radiation indicated that the killing dose of gamma rays to all stages of the three Ephestia spp. was 0.7 kGy (700 Gray). This dose caused complete sterility to all date moths found 1-2 days after irradiation in comparison with 87% in the control treatment. Furthermore, examination of storage dates after 30-180 days showed no live stages of all moths. Egg and larval parasitoids Trichogramma evanescens and Bracon hebetor either alone or with pheromone and Dismate PE reduced the percentages of infestation to 1.4 after six months of storage compared to 17.9% for the control in the orchard and warehouses. Inesfly 5A IGR NG paint caused highly mortality to Ephestia spp. Adults, larvae and the associated arthropods in the warehouses. Based on the trial results, using one or a combination of the tested measures ensure clean dates without implementing methyl bromide.