Victorian potato farmers urged to remain vigilant for potato psyllid
Australia’s chief plant health officer Gabrielle Vivian-Smith said there had been no confirmed reports of the devastating pest in Victoria. In order to keep the problem contained, Vctoria has imposed restrictions on the importation of any “risk material” from Western Australia as a precaution.
The concern is that if spread to Victoria the pest could transmit zebra chip disease in potato, which has caused $200 million damage to the New Zealand potato industry and also wreaked havoc on crops in Mexico and the US.
“The recent detections of TPP in Western Australia should serve as a sharp reminder to all growers of the importance of best practice biosecurity protocols,” Dr Vivian-Smith said.
source: weeklytimesnow.com.au
