Bayoud disease of date palm

Plants affected

• date palm

Easily confused with

• red palm weevil

  How to tell them apart: Red Palm Weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus) and Bayoud disease (Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. albedinis) both wilt and collapse the date palm crown, but the visible signs differ. The weevil attacks from inside: look for chewed exit holes in the trunk and frond bases oozing brown fermenting sap with a sour odour, expelled fibrous chewed frass and rust-coloured cocoons, and a central crown that topples or droops while outer fronds may still look green. Bayoud is a soil-borne vascular wilt: it kills fronds one at a time from the older outer ring inward, with the classic one-sided pattern — leaflets whiten and die progressively along ONE side of the rachis first, the midrib turns reddish-brown, and cutting a petiole shows brown vascular streaking with no insect galleries, frass, or odour. Both are EU-notifiable quarantine organisms — if either is suspected, report it to your National Plant Protection Organisation (NPPO).

Common questions

Do I have to report Bayoud disease of date palm?

Yes. Bayoud disease of date palm is a regulated quarantine organism in the EU. A suspected finding must be reported to your national plant protection organisation — they will confirm it and tell you what to do next.

How is Bayoud disease of date palm treated?

Mainly with biological and cultural measures — removing affected material, changing the conditions that favour it, and treating with agents approved in your country. The exact steps and their timing depend on the plant, the season and where you live: Dr. Phyto works them out in a free diagnosis.