Digital Innovations Take Center Stage in the Global Fight Against Red Palm Weevil
Launch of Workstream 3 – Digital Innovations under the Consortium for Red Palm Weevil Control at ICRISAT, Hyderabad
ICRISAT December 26 2025
ICRISAT hosted the launch of Workstream 3 – Digital Innovations under the Consortium for Red Palm Weevil Control (C4RPWC) at its headquarters in Hyderabad, marking a major push toward predictive, digital-first prevention of one of the destructive date palm pests, red palm weevil. Supported by The Presidential Court of the UAE and The Gates Foundation, the three-year global program brings together leading institutions to strengthen early detection and early warning systems and addressing critical gaps in Red Palm Weevil (RPW) management.
Led by ICARDA (International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas), C4RPWC is structured around five workstreams: 1-Innovative bio-based solutions, 2-Biotechnological innovations, 3-Digital innovations, 4-Good Agricultural Practices/GAP innovations, and 5-Driving adoption and scale-up. The Hyderabad event specifically marked the start of Workstream 3, focused on building and validating digital monitoring and early warning tools that can detect the infestation.
The workstream brings together experts from ICRISAT and ICARDA and CGIAR’s Digital Transformation Accelerator, in collaboration with Prof Christian Nansen, Professor, University of California, Davis, and Founder, Spectral Analytix, to reframe RPW management with a special focus on prediction.
Reinforcing the urgency, ElShafie Hamadttu, Red Palm Weevil (RPW) expert, ICARDA, joined the event virtually and underscored the need to detect infestation before damage becomes irreversible. Dr Debi Sahoo, digital agriculture expert, ICRISAT, presented a multi-stage digital methodology to track infestation progression from early, symptom-free stages, sparking multidisciplinary discussions spanning entomology, epidemiology, socioeconomics, indigenous knowledge, and farmer-centered design.
Connecting the initiative to CGIAR’s broader agenda, Mr Ram Dhulipala, Interim Director, CGIAR Digital Transformation Accelerator, linked the workstream to CGIAR’s 2030 Research and Innovation Strategy, emphasizing how digital systems can integrate data streams, accelerate access, and improve delivery at scale.
Over the next three years (2026–2028), partners will move from algorithms to field trials and from pilots to scalable platforms, combining in-situ sensors, UAVs, satellite imagery, weather data, and analytical models to generate actionable early warnings. The goal is to develop a field-usable, affordable package of practices and tools to prevent and manage RPW infestation—protecting palms, livelihoods, and ecosystems.
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