The Civil Guard has been collaborating since Monday with the Government of the Canary Islands in the efforts to prevent the spread of grape phylloxera (Daktulosphaira Vitifoliae Fitch) by means of road controls that ensure compliance with the restrictions on the movement of plant material and grapes included in the Order, published last week, by which the regional Executive declared the fight against this organism to be of public utility, detected in a focus located in Tenerife, and established urgent phytosanitary measures for its control and eradication.
The Deputy Minister of the Primary Sector of the Government of the Canary Islands, Eduardo García, and the commander and head of the Seprona of the Canary Islands, Julián Arribas, participated this week in the development of these actions in Valle de Guerra, in Tenerife, accompanying agents of the Nature Protection Service (Seprona) of the Civil Guard who, together with the Canary Police and the different bodies of the local police forces of the archipelago, are carrying out, with the support of the Plant Health personnel of the Canarian Executive, control work to guarantee compliance with the protocol for the transport of plant material of vines and grapes in the Canary Islands. Another of the operations carried out this week took place in the Port of Los Cristianos, in this case by the fiscal unit of the Civil Guard.
In this regard, the Deputy Minister stressed that "the support of the Security Forces and Corps is essential for the restrictions on transfer included in the new regulations to be effective and we can protect our wine sector from the possible spread of this harmful organism." "For this reason, last week Minister Narvay Quintero held a meeting with Seprona commanders to coordinate these actions both in internal movements within each island and in inter-island maritime transport," added Eduardo García.
Prohibition of moving vine plant material
The aforementioned order establishes the total prohibition of the movement of vine plant material in any of its forms -plants, cuttings, vine shoots, cuttings or patterns-, as well as equipment, machinery, boxes or soil from vineyards. Likewise, the regulations prohibit under any circumstances the movement of fresh grapes from an island with an outbreak (currently Tenerife), as well as from the geographical scope of any Protected Designation of Origin where the presence of phylloxera has been detected (currently Tacoronte-Acentejo).
However, always under strict phytosanitary control conditions, approval of the movement guide and prior obtaining of express authorization from the General Directorate of Agriculture, the regulatory text contemplates that fresh grapes may be transferred between islands, as well as within the limits of the PDOs without a declared outbreak.
Only 45 locations with phylloxera
According to the latest balance, after carrying out 1,368 surveys, 1,323 locations free of grape phylloxera have been detected, while in 45 of them the presence of this insect was detected.
The prospecting work continues to be carried out especially in the area bordering the municipalities of San Cristóbal de La Laguna (Valle de Guerra) and Tacoronte, where the main focus was located and most of the positives are concentrated, a large part of them on abandoned land. Likewise, the work continues both towards the south of the island, reaching El Rosario and Candelaria, and in a northerly direction, towards the municipal districts of La Orotava and Los Realejos.
In addition to the aforementioned restrictions on plant movement, the Order includes the procedures for action on the ground to prevent the spread of the pathogen by establishing a delimited area of five hundred meters around each of the affected plants, as well as an additional perimeter of one kilometer radius, in line with the actions that, since the detection of the first case, have been carried out on the ground by the personnel of the public company Gestión del Medio Rural (GMR Canarias) in coordination with the Plant Health Service of the Government of the Canary Islands.
Grape phylloxera
Grape phylloxera is a harmful organism that causes damage to the leaves of vines by forming galls caused by the bites of this insect that are visible on the underside of the leaves and that correspond to chlorotic lesions visible on the upper side.
It can also affect the roots, where it produces nodules and tubers linked to these bites that, if they reach the main root, will cause the host plant to wither and finally die between two and five years after infestation. Although in the cases of Tenerife its presence has not been detected in that part of the plants.
Until the detection of the first case at the end of July, the Canary Islands was free of Daktulosphaira Vitifoliae Fitch. This status was maintained thanks to the validity of the Order of March 12, 1987, which establishes for the Canary archipelago the phytosanitary regulations relating to the import, export and transit of plants and plant products, and which prohibits the import of vine plant material (Vitis L.) except fruits and seeds, originating from all countries, including peninsular Spain.
Control and elimination actions
To eliminate the organism in the affected locations, a phytosanitary treatment is applied with a systemic product. Subsequently, the vines are extracted for disposal and the process is completed by the localized application of a herbicide to the roots of the plant and a granular insecticide in the soil together with lime. Finally, an anti-grass mesh is placed to prevent the plant from sprouting again, while the extracted material, completely sealed to prevent leaks, is disposed of either by burning or buried at great depth.