Meet the Team

The development of WeevilWipeout began with a simple observation: despite decades of chemical treatments and expensive injection systems, the red palm weevil continues to spread across continents, destroying millions of palms and threatening agricultural economies.

For many growers and governments, the available options remain limited — costly chemical injections, repeated treatments, and in many cases the eventual loss of the tree.

My background is in horticulture, landscaping, and plant systems, and over many years of working with plants and soil ecology I became increasingly interested in how naturally occurring plant compounds interact with insect physiology.

Plants have been defending themselves against insects for millions of years. Many produce powerful compounds that act as deterrents, repellents, or disruptors to insects, yet these natural systems remain underutilised in modern agricultural pest management.

The idea behind WeevilWipeout was to explore whether carefully selected plant compounds could be formulated and delivered in a way that targets the red palm weevil while remaining environmentally compatible.

Over time this work evolved into a broader platform — not just a single treatment, but a system designed to work through several delivery methods including trunk protection, canopy application, and soil-based approaches.

Today, WeevilWipeout is moving into institutional evaluation and field trials with agricultural partners. The work continues to evolve as new data is gathered and new delivery approaches are explored.

— Justin Wride
Founder & Inventor, WeevilWipeout