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RIYADH: Saudi citizens and residents are no strangers to extreme heat and have learned to adapt over the years. But as temperatures rise, so do insects. And sometimes the problem just can’t be chased away.

Fruit flies from the Tephriditae family, such as the Mediterranean fruit fly and the olive fruit fly, as well as insects such as the palm weevil, are the biggest enemies of the country’s plant and fruit resources.

The SR9.2 billion ($2.4 billion) date industry loses an average of SR1 billion annually in date palm cultivation and related lost revenue due to the palm weevil infestation, according to research by Topian, a food company owned by NEOM.

At the launch of the Saudi Agrifood Tech Alliance in Riyadh in early July, Andrew Yip, head of innovation and ecosystem activation at Topian, revealed the development of a new technology to combat palm weevils, which threaten Saudi Arabia’s 36 million palm trees.

Working with AK-Sens, a startup based at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Topian plans to commercialize and scale its fiber-optic sensor technology for early insect detection on thousands of trees in less than an hour, Yip said.

After initial tests involving just a few trees in Tabuk, the team’s latest test at NEOM covered a thousand trees and achieved 96.3 percent accuracy, with setup time reduced by two-thirds compared to previous attempts.

While the sensor technology has so far been applied only to palms and palm weevils, it has the potential to improve overall productivity and sustainability across the agri-food sector and farms across the country.

To better understand the health risks associated with consuming pest-infected fruits and vegetables, Arab News spoke with Dr. Basem Al-Bahrani, a consultant in emergency medicine at Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare and a member of the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians.

He said: “Eating fruit and vegetables is an essential part of a healthy diet, but there are health risks associated with eating them if they are contaminated or not washed properly. These risks can include a range of problems that can affect individuals differently.”

Food poisoning caused by salmonella, Escherichia coli (or E. coli) or listeria bacteria is among the most common health problems, Al-Bahrani explained. Symptoms include diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, abdominal cramps and fever.

Other possible health risks include parasitic infections, which at best present themselves as food poisoning, and at worst can cause weight loss and anemia. Finally, consuming pesticide residues can lead to hormonal disruption, nervous system disorders, and an increased risk of cancer.

Arab News also spoke to Salman Al-Wahib, the retired owner of Saudi Advanced Business Co. Holding, who turned farmer and owner of a plant tissue culture laboratory and a nursery for garden and houseplants, with 11 years of experience in the field.

He said fruit pests are a problem that “requires great concern from those responsible, farmers and consumers.” Al-Wahib also warns that summer is a particularly dangerous time, as rising temperatures and humidity levels provide conditions for pests to thrive and contribute to the spread of plant bacteria and molds.

The problem begins, as you might expect, at the growing stage, he explained. While pests are most common in local fruit, they are most often a symptom of imported seed and soil. If the seed and soil are not treated properly before the first shipment, those containers become breeding grounds for pests, ready to continue their invasion at the destination.

Farmers and producers follow strict sanitation, inspection and cleaning procedures to avoid large-scale invasions. According to Al-Wahib, the fruit undergoes internal and external inspection to check for signs of pests. Samples of the fruit are then taken to a laboratory and tested for pests and pesticide residues.

The Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture monitors agricultural areas to ensure that no highly toxic and environmentally harmful pesticides are used and that the standard provisions of the Pesticides Law — agreed by the Gulf Cooperation Council’s Department of Agriculture in 2005 — are followed. The law states that “it is necessary to control and regulate the way in which (pesticides) are formulated, used, sold, stored and handled to prevent any potential hazards.” Finally, a certificate is awarded declaring selected crops free from pests and pesticides and safe for human consumption.

While there has been enormous progress in the development of organic pesticides in recent decades, and farmers like Al-Wahib agree that they are a better alternative to chemical pesticides in terms of effectiveness and plant health, there is still a long way to go to reduce the SR1 billion loss to a much more reasonable amount and prevent widespread health problems.

According to Al-Wahib, in addition to washing fruit thoroughly at home, watching for signs of pest infestation and using proper storage techniques, the best way to avoid the dangers of fruit pests is to “buy from trusted local markets or farms that are officially certified to be free from harmful chemical pesticides and fertilizers.”

Thanks to this, we can eat our favorite summer fruits without any worries, refreshing ourselves during the heat.