132 plants confirmed positive to Xylella fastidiosa in the Balearic Islands
The Spanish Ministerio de Agricultura y Pesca, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente has announced on last February 28, that 132 samples have been found positive to Xylella fastidiosa in the Balearic Islands, until now.
In Mallorca, 95 out of the 595 samples analysed have provided a positive result: 9 cultivated olives, 24 wild olives, 11 polygalas, three cherries, one plum, 44 almonds and three rosemaries. All these hosts were found infected by the Xylella fastidiosa subspecies fastidiosa or multiplex.
In Ibiza, on the other hand, a total of 119 samples was analysed and 21 of them (16 olive trees, two oleanders, one acacia and one polygala) were confirmed positive to the Xylella fastidiosa subspecies pauca, belonging to a sequencing type different from that found in Apulia Region.
In Menorca 16 out of the 21 samples analysed were positive. In this case, the plants infected were: two olive trees, 12 wild olive trees and two polygalas. The Xylella fastidiosa subspecies detected on the island was multiplex.
The Action Plan against Xylella fastidiosa in the Balearic Islands, redacted by the Plant Health Service of the Department of Environment, Agriculture and Fishery indicates that the spread of the pathogen virtually covers all the territory of the region, therefore its eradication seems already not possible, and consequently its containment appears as the most feasible alternative option.
