 The South American palm weevil is an insect that has starved in St. Lucia for many years. However, its recent behavioral changes have led to its classification as an invasive species because of the harm it causes to coconut trees. The Agriculture and Ministry sensitization efforts take the form of a classroom session followed by a practical hands-on-field demonstration where participants learn of environmentally friendly methods to reduce pests' population. Crop protection officer Steffi Ramin explains that the coconut sub-sector remains a major source of income for farmers across the island. She allied the importance of educating key stakeholders in order to protect the nation's food security. So the South American palm weevil, it's an insect of interest or pest of interest to the crop protection unit because not only does it destroy the production capacity of the coconut plant and it kills it, it's also a vector to the red ring nematode which is, it causes the red ring disease and it's in the neighboring islands of Trinidad, Grenada and St. Vincent and we've been trying to keep it out of St. Lucia for the longest while. So far we've been successful but the best way to keep the red ring disease out is to keep the South American palm weevil populations low. So this is why we're doing this proactive activity so to speak and we are trying to do more preventative measures instead of reacting after the fact. The crop protection unit is also carrying out an island-wide survey to follow up on the behavioral patterns of the South American palm weevil. According to Miss Ramin, it is critical that farmers take precautions with the species because coconut trees infected by the South American palm weevil can die within three to six months of being affected. The weevil itself has the capacity to fly up to six miles in a day so that gives you a very large contact area if you're looking at one farm in any direction. Farmers who depend on coconuts for if there is supplying fresh coconut vendors or those who supply agro processors it's a very important source of income for them and I know the ministry is looking to increase coconut production on island so I think everybody needs to do their part to keep the populations low as much as possible to support that sector growing in terms of production. A total of seven meetings will be held throughout the various agricultural regions culminating with a closing ceremony on December 6th 2022. From the communications unit of the Ministry of Agriculture, I am Anisia Antoine reporting.