Italian agricultural body Cia has sounded the alarm for the Italian region of Lazio's green kiwifruit growers after research suggested the recent outbreak of the Psa bacteria in a number of the area's yellow kiwifruit vines had begun spreading to green kiwifruit production.
'As feared, the Psa bacteria which has already brought about the destruction of more than 600ha of yellow kiwifruit is increasingly multiplying in `Lazio's` green kiwifruit production, which with a total of 8,000ha represents the leading production region in Europe,' the group said in a statement.
'According to best estimates, operators could suffer production losses of more than 30 per cent, which in economic terms is more than €40m,' it added.
The group called for Lazio's regional authorities to declare the outbreak a crisis and, in doing so, release funds for research into ways to combat the disease's spread and to compensate affected growers.
CIA Lazio also called for an immediate approval to the proposed Regional Law 80 relating to damage from plant diseases.
'It is necessary that the €1m in funds earmarked be raised to at least €5m, the minimum figure sufficient to revive the kiwifruit sector, which is crucial for the economy of Lazio,' it said.
Meanwhile, technical managers from leading Italian fresh produce company Apofruit have met with growers in the region of Veneto, in north-eastern Italy, to look at ways of fighting the spread of Psa.
The group is also understood to have discussed the possibility of working with producer organisations alliance OPO Veneto in order to find economies of scale in producing the highest quality products at a lower cost.
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