Agroaldea
He entered the island of Mallorca and has lethal effects on crops such as olives, citrus, fruit, vine or almond.
The official confirmation of arrival to Spanish territory, specifically the island of Mallorca, de la bacteria Xylella fastidiosa, popularly known as the "ebola olive tree" because of its enormous power of destruction, He has triggered alarm in the Spanish red agriculture.
The president of the Valencian Farmers Association (AVA-ASAJA), Cristóbal Aguado, He states that it "is a very serious and extremely worrying news that proves beyond any shadow of doubt what we have long denounced, i.e., that the European Union has been applying on pest control and a totally irresponsible brinkmanship. Brussels not to continue playing with impunity with the future of Mediterranean agriculture ".
The Xylella fastidiosa, whose presence for the first time in Spain has just been located in three cherry trees rooted in Mallorca, is a bacterium lethal effects for crops such as olives, citrus, fruit, la at, olive or almond.
The fact that there are no currently effective methods to combat this scourge and that the only option is to destroy infected trees makes it a prime enemy.
A good test of the magnitude of the potential threat that now faces the same Spanish agriculture is in the consequences it is having on Italy. Xylella was located in the transalpine country 2013 and, according to the latest data, in the brief period of three years it has spread over a 250.000 hectares of olive trees and destroyed millions of trees. Since then, the bacterium has appeared in other countries like France and Germany and now has just been also identified in Mallorca cherry those three aforementioned.
In view of the situation, President of AVA-ASAJA calls upon the Ministry of Agriculture and all regional administrations, with special emphasis on the Valencian, to activate all protocols and control measures. "We know -comenta Aguado- that both the Ministry and the Department of Agriculture already been put to work and are taking the matter very seriously, but we must redouble vigilance, act in a coordinated and, above all, take all necessary measures to isolate the affected area and eradicate the focus before the bacteria from spreading to other regions ".
Aguado is particularly outraged at the laxity that is showing the EU's policies pest control in fruit and vegetable shipments imported from third countries.
"The EU -apunta President of AVA-ASAJA- commercial interests puts the safety of our crops and that is intolerable. Following precisely the emergence of Xylella in Italy the European Union carried out a reshuffle plant health regulations but the changes are totally inadequate because they follow without considering effective measures such as positive lists calls, in which it includes those countries which meet the necessary requirements to export their products; one that does use this system as liberal country in trade terms as United States. Brussels plays with fire and we burn is us. Someone there must take responsibility for everything that is happening ".