Food & climate
Alaa Farouk, Egyptian minister of Agriculture, participated in a field visit to examine Italian olive farms Infected with Xylella fastidiosa, with the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), QU Dongyu, a number of ministers, and representatives of international organizations participating in the International Conference in Support of the FAO Strategy for Plant Health.
Xylella fastidiosa is a bacterial pathogen that causes severe diseases in a wide range of plants, and was detected on olive trees in Italy’s southern Puglia region in October 2013, the first time the bacterium was reported in the European Union (EU). The bacterium was since detected in France, Spain and Portugal.
Xylella fastidiosa has a wide range of host plants such as olive trees, citrus plants, grapevines and various ornamental plants. Insects such as sharpshooters and spittlebugs that feed on the xylem sap of plants are vectors, transmitting the bacterium to other plants. The bacterium causes deficiencies in water and mineral uptake in plants by blocking the xylem, the transporting tissue.
The EU has a series of control measures in place to prevent the bacterium from spreading. EFSA supports the EU risk managers and Member States in this area by conducting risk assessments, developing survey guidelines, establishing cooperation and supporting research efforts to find sustainable solutions, according to “European Food Safety Authority”.
During the visit, participants viewed an example of an Italian olive farm infected with Xylella bacteria, which has devastated numerous olive crops in Italy since its discovery in 2013 in a region of the Puglia region of Italy, according to a statement that “Food & Climate” platform received.
The damage of Xylella fastidiosa
Xylella fastidiosa, a FAO Strategy for Plant Health, has an annual economic impact of €5.5 billion in Europe. Its spread is linked to climate change, representing a significant loss to the agricultural sector globally. This bacterium can infect olive trees of various ages, as well as medicinal and ornamental plants.
During the visit, it was noted that the infected trees are thousands of years old, and were previously known for their high productivity. This represents a significant loss to olive production and the olive industry in Italy.
3 weeks ago, an olive tree located north of Bari, in an area previously thought to be free of Xylella fastidiosa, has been found infected with the bacterium.
Xylella monitoring operations conducted across the Puglia region allowed local researchers to identify an early infection, described as a “point-source outbreak.”
A point source outbreak is when an infected tree is the only one showing signs of infection among hundreds of trees tested in the area.
According to local authorities, the most probable cause of infection is the spittlebug, an insect considered the vector of the bacterium. Once infected with Xylella, the insect remains infective for the rest of its life.
The discovery has alarmed the local community, as the Bari province is at the heart of Italy’s most important olive-producing area.
It has been reported that the broad implementation of mandatory prevention protocols to contain the spittlebug population has considerably slowed down the bacterium.
Continuing the advance
Xylella fastidiosa pauca continues heading north. Over the past decade, it has advanced approximately 250 kilometers, from the first sites where Xylella was identified to the latest infection in Minervino.
“The fear we had long expressed has unfortunately become a tragic reality. The deadly Xylella fastidiosa bacterium has reached the province of Barletta-Andria-Trani. It was at the gates of Bari, and now it’s here with us,” Gaetano Riglietti, secretary-general of the agricultural workers’ union Flai-Cgil, wrote in a statement.
While the spittlebug is known to move only short distances on its own, it is often attracted to cars and trucks; clinging to them might allow it to carry Xylella over longer distances.
Current European Union and local regulations mandate that the infected tree be removed and that an infected zone be declared within a 50-meter radius.
Before the tree is removed, the entire 50-meter area is sprayed to eradicate any potential vector insects.
Within this zone, all plants susceptible to Xylella infection are sampled. Within a 400-meter radius, extensive sampling of olive trees and other potential hosts is also conducted.
Additionally, a buffer zone, an area where special containment protocols apply, now extends 2.5 kilometers from the point of infection.
“Minervino Murge must be included among the municipalities of the Bari, Taranto and Brindisi provinces where mandatory agricultural practices must be carried out, including plowing, tilling, harrowing or shredding to reduce the population of the spittlebug,” noted the farming association Coldiretti.
In its statement, Coldiretti emphasized that mechanical and phytosanitary prevention practices, visual and insect monitoring, plant sampling and the removal of infected olive trees, along with new tools for early detection of outbreaks, are the only ways to slow the spread of the infection, since there is still no cure for this bacterial disease, according to “Olive Oil Times”.