New visit of delegates of DG-AGRI in the Xylella-demarcated areas in Apulia (Italy)
Following the visit of the last year, on March 21, Gianfranco Colleluori (Deputy Head of Unit “Italy-Malta”) and Andrea Incarnati (Desk Officer Puglia) of the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural development of DG-AGRI visited the area of the Apulia region demarcated as “infected” and affected by the epidemic spread of Xylella fastidiosa. The visit, organized by Luca Limongelli, Managing Authority (AdG) of the regional Rural Development Program (PSR) of the Apulia Region, was an opportunity for the EU delegates to see the impacts and the consequences of the spread of the devastating bacterial infection for the whole agriculture sector of the area (olive industry, nursery productions) as well as its social and environmental implications.
Donato Boscia, representing the H2020 Research Consortia POnTE and XF-ACTORS, joined the visiting team to provide updates on the latest scientific knowledge and research advances on this emerging pathogen.
During a tour of the region, the EU delegates visited a nursery in the district of Fasano (area of containment), which is one of the major producers of vegetable seedlings and officinal plants in Apulia, and two major outbreaks of the bacterium in the municipalities of Carovigno and Oria.
The visiting team included, besides Luca Limongelli, Giuseppe Tedeschi, and Anna Percoco of the Regional Plant Protection Service, Donato Boscia on behalf of the scientific community, and Cosimo Cavallo, of the Plant Protection Service of the Brindisi province, who has guided the visit.
