Today, Tuesday, February 11, the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of the Government of the Canary Islands, Alicia Vanoostende, received the 14 international scientists belonging to the EPPO, acronym in English for the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization
The EPPO, with the collaboration of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Department of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of the regional executive, chose the Canary Islands to carry out a work meeting that aims to investigate the forms of control of Tecia Solanivora popularly known as Guatemalan moth. A pest with a special incidence on the islands for several years and where there is meticulous work by island researchers to control it, both in the field and in warehouses.
The researchers, from Russia, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Denmark, Belgium, Turkey and Spain, will remain in Tenerife until next Thursday, February 13. Three days of intense work in which they have scheduled a visit to Icod el Alto, the first area in Europe where this tuber is planted, to learn about the wide variety of potatoes with a designation of origin, as well as the “Papa Bonita” association.
The Minister of Agriculture, Alicia Vanoostende, indicated that this work meeting adds to the existing lines of research and intensifies efforts to obtain methods to control the Guatemalan moth that is doing so much damage to local potato production. A fact, he added, aggravated by the high temperatures of recent winters that favor the proliferation of the pest. This action is part of the set of measures that the Ministry is developing to fight against this problem, taking into account, on the other hand, the Non-Law Proposition approved by the Agriculture Commission of the Parliament of the Canary Islands on November 22. Vanoostende also made reference to the important work that has been done by the Canarian Institute of Agricultural Research (ICIA) with the implementation of a quarantine protocol that has been effective and is in the process of being validated by the Ministry.
The General Director of the EPPO and researcher, Nico Horn, pointed out that the entity is organizing work days in different countries in order to investigate virulent pests that mainly affect crops. Horn recalled that the FAO declared 2020 as the Year of Plant Health, to raise awareness about how protecting plant health can help boost economic development, reduce poverty and eradicate hunger, as well as protect the environment.
The Guatemalan moth was introduced to the Canary Islands in 2000 through a passenger from Latin America who was bringing infected potatoes with him. Since then, the pest has spread throughout the Islands, becoming a major problem for producers of this tuber whose production suffers a decrease of up to 50%. The plague has been wreaking havoc for years in other communities such as Galicia and Asturias. That is why investigations and studies continue by international institutions and bodies to stop this problem and prevent it from spreading to other areas of Europe.
