Reduction of carob moth in 'Deglet Noor' dates using a bunch cleaning tool

Abscised date fruit, Phoenix dactylifera, become developmental sites for various insect pests when they are trapped in tight date bunches. We developed a 'Deglet Noor' date bunch cleaning tool that, with minimal investment in time and labor, can remove abscised fruit from the bunch. We field tested the cleaning tool at five plots in four Southern California date gardens during the 2004 growing season and four field plots at four date gardens during the 2005 growing season. Over a 5 week sampling interval, after using the date cleaning tool a single time, we found a 53-93% reduction in the number of abscised fruit and a corresponding 52-91% reduction in the number of carob moth, Ectomyelois ceratoniae, infested fruit compared to the non-treated area in 2004. In 2005, we found a reduction in abscised fruit that ranged from 73% to 94% and a 67% to 99% reduction in carob moth infested fruit. We provide a list of all materials and instructions to properly construct and use the cleaning tool.