Establishing preventive actions and to minimize the risks of Psa bacteria were the most relevant topics of discussion in the public-private meeting kiwi panel, set up two years ago and coordinated by the Agriculture and Livestock Service (SAG) and the Committee of the kiwi, where consultants, researchers, Universities and the Association of Nurseries Fruit were involved.
The activity, led by the National Director of SAG, Anibal Ariztía, and Agriculture Seremi of the Maule region, Anita Prizant, was focused Psa which affects this product. Currently there are 30 orchards diagnosed with this pest in the country, equivalent to 3,0000 hectares out of 12,000 hectares of kiwifruit in production; going from the V to the IX Region, in a sector that makes USD 200 million annually.
Within the agreements producers must avoid the spreading of the bacteria in the regions which are free of this disease and establish precautionary measures to minimize the risk of infection to other areas. If this is not done it could result in a great impact for the kiwifruit industry and the economy in the medium term.
It was also established to continue the dissemination of information material for the industry on Psa, besides the discussion of prevention and control measures in the country, coordination of training and general logistics activities.
The SAG called on the kiwifruit industry, including producers that are outside of the
affected regions, to take the necessary preventive measures to contain the disease and implement a work plan that includes strict control of movement of plant materials, traffic of people, disinfecting tools, enabling rodiluvios footbaths and, among others, to mitigate the risk of spreading the disease.
Prevent before cure
SAG has declared PSA as a pest under official control throughout the country, through SAG Resolution No. 5655 of August 23, 2011. In the Resolution, quarantine and control obligatory measures are published for orchards with a positive diagnosis of Psa and kiwifruit nurseries.
These steps are continuously controlled by SAG inspectors, who perform tracking
measures in orchards where the disease is present.
There is a call to all producers to take all precautionary measures in kiwifruit orchards released by SAG, in conjunction with the kiwifruit industry, through informative material and institutional Web pages which identifies in detail how to implement preventive measures, such as disinfecting tools and vehicles, pesticide applications to prevent and initiate their orchards with nursery material registered in SAG, among others.
Psa has no curative control. For this reason it is essential that kiwi producers take
preventive measures that are available in detail on SAG`s website www.sag.cl because once the plant is infected, no product can help recover the plant. The only solution would be to pull it out.
Source: SAG