Effects of four-years intensive eradication of the fire blight in Poland
2001
Zandarski, J. | Baginska, H. | Kordyla-Bronka, M. (The Main Inspectorate of Plant Protection, Torun (Poland). The Central Laboratory)
Poland has been one of the first European countries affected by the fire blight. First foci of the disease were discovered in the North of the country in 1966. It has spread in short time to the southern regions. Bacteria Erwinia amylovora, the causal agent of the fire blight, has a quarantine status in Poland since 1962. Intensive efforts aimed at eradication of the fire blight have been in force since 1996. These include high number of inspections conducted in various crops of the host plants. About 6-7 thousands of nurseries and commercial orchards of apples, pears and quinces are inspected each year. Small gardens attached to homesteads and wild fire blight hosts (hawthorn, sorb, rowan, etc.) are also subjected to inspection (25-26 thousands of crops per year). Sample is taken from each crop suspected of the fire blight infection and then examined in the laboratory. Diagnostic of the fire blight includes the isolation of the bacterium on growing media and further identification using available methods (e.g. serological and biochemical tests, PCR). Infested plants are removed and burned. Special treatment is applied in order to reduce the potential source of inoculum. Additional strict measures are imposed in the case of scions orchards or nurseries, e.g. prohibition of using whole plants or their parts for further propagation. All these measures have resulted in significant reduction of the disease prevalence. The fire blight is only sporadically notified in nurseries and rarely in commercial orchards. Wild host plants, especially hawthorn, are affected the most frequently at the time being. Generally, the rate of the infestation of the fire blight host plants has been reduced more than twice during the last four years.
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