Eradication of Acidovorax citrulli from Emilia-Romagna (IT)
In Italy, the presence of Acidovorax citrulli (EPPO Alert List) was reported in October 2009 in a single melon field (Cucurbita melo cv. ‘Giusto’) in the province of Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna region (see EPPO RS 2010/059). Because the bacterium was detected at the end of the growing season, the grower was asked to apply herbicides and not to replant melons in the infected field. In 2010 and 2011, a monitoring programme (general surveillance and targeted surveys) was carried out in Emilia-Romagna and did not detect A. citrulli. In March 2012, the NPPO of Italy officially declared the successful eradication of A. citrulli from Emilia-Romagna. However, the NPPO pointed out that because melon and watermelon seeds continue to be imported from areas where the bacterium occurs, there is a high risk of new introductions, as this has already been illustrated by the detection of another outbreak in 2010 in Sardegna on grafted melon plants (still under eradication - see EPPO RS 2011/150). Therefore, monitoring programmes on A. citrulli will continue in Italy.
The pest status of Acidovorax citrulli in Emilia-Romagna is officially declared as: Absent, single case eradicated. The general surveillance as well as a targeted survey have not shown further foci in the two following years after the report. The monitoring and the survey will continue in the next growing seasons.
Sources
NPPO of Italy (2012-03).