In 2022, 13 olive trees are already infected, affected by Xylella and found in a service station between Monopoli (Bari) and Fasano (Brindisi). The worrying figure was released by Coldiretti Puglia, based on the InfoXylella update.

In 2021, on the other hand, they let it be known that “from a first estimate, more than 2000 plants would have been ill in 2021 in the area with active outbreaks”.
For Coldiretti, “the results of the statistical analyzes conducted by the research bodies require a serious reflection on the new EU regulation approved on August 14, 2020 which reduced the buffer area – or the radius of the ‘hotbed area around plants found infected and subject to mandatory cutting – to remove them from the spreading action of vector insects, such as the spitting leafhopper.

If the spittoon walks up to 400 meters in a season – continues Coldiretti Puglia – the buffer area of 50 meters is decidedly insufficient to contain the risk of contagion, so you only get an action to slow down the spread, certainly not the extinction of the more advanced outbreaks in buffer areas on the epidemic front which would require far more drastic actions.

“The urgency – for Coldiretti – is to save the Piana degli Ulivi Monumentali from new infections, which has already lost 1/3 of the priceless olive trees preserved over time and to stem the spread of Xylella fastidiosa in Puglia which, according to the study of the prestigious magazine americana Pnas (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America), may cause a negative economic impact in Europe up to 20
billions “.

The article is in Italian

Tags: Xylella alarm Coldiretti Puglia infected olive trees