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A selection of news on international and national meetings, policy changes and scientific information on Xylella fastidiosa3rd European Conference on Xylella fastidiosa and XF-ACTORS final meeting | Full recording and material
900 people from more than 60 countries registered for the 3rd European Conference on Xylella fastidiosa and the final meeting of the XF-ACTORS project. The event was held online from 26 April to 30 April 2021 and was organised by EFSA and XF-ACTORS with the active...
The program of the 3rd European Conference on Xylella fastidiosa and the final meeting of the XF-ACTORS project is now online
THE XF-ACTORS FINAL MEETING TAKING STOCK OF THE EU FUNDED RESEARCH ON XYLELLA FASTIDIOSA Full programme available here Day-by-day scientific program XF-ACTORS final meeting Day 1 – April 26, 2021 Day 2 – April 27, 2021 Day 3 - April 28, 2021 3rd EFSA European...
Fight to protect Europe’s agriculture from devastating pest
Historic olive groves and a huge variety of other plants are at risk from a highly destructive invasive pathogen. XF-ACTORS brought together international expertise promoting a fruitful exchange and development of knowledge among different experts and disciplines that...
XF-ACTORS Final Conference: register now!
Check out this short video launching our final event and the 3rd European conference on Xylella...
Donato Boscia’s work on Xylella fastidiosa commended by John Maddox Prize’s judges
The work of Donato Boscia, head of the Bari unit of the CNR Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection (IPSP) was commended by John Maddox Prize's judges. Judges commended the work of Donato Boscia, head of the Bari unit of the CNR Institute for Sustainable Plant...
BRIGIT – Surveillance and response capacity for Xylella fastidiosa
In the framework of the UK project BRIGIT different consortium events are going to be organized in the upcoming months. The themes of the first two events are Development and implementation of diagnostic tools for Xylella on 2 Dec 9.30 – 13.00, Modelling and Social...
Online training course on monitoring and surveillance of olive pathogens
Researchers of different Institutions participating to XF-ACTORS project will contribute to the training course organized by CIHEAM Zaragoza and the International Olive Council on monitoring and surveillance of olive pathogens. Several presentations will provide...
Xylella fastidiosa: hosts, subspecies and diffusion in Italy and Europe
Under the mainstream of the Giornate Fitopatologiche an invited speech titled “Xylella fastidiosa: hosts, subspecies and diffusion in Italy and Europe” was presented by Stefania Loreti (CREA-DC of Rome) The speech deal with the main characteristics and distribution of...
EU adopts new measures against Xylella fastidiosa
The European Commission announced new measures to contain the spread of Xylella fastidiosa in the EU. The EU Commission approved the EU Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1201 of 14 August 2020 as regards measures to prevent the introduction into and the spread within...
APS Annual Meeting: Plant Health 2020 Online
The theme selected for Plant Health 2020 conference is “Scientific Credibility: Changing the Climate,” inspired in large part by the growing gap in understanding and respect between scientists and the public, as well as a book written by Richard Harris, NPR...
Special Issue “Integrating Science on Xanthomonas and Xylella for Integrated Plant Disease Management”
As an output of the EuroXanth COST Action, the four Working Group Leaders Joana Josta, Joël F. Pothier, Jens Boch and Emilio Stefani, together with the Chair Ralf Koebnik, will edit a Special Issue “Integrating Science on Xanthomonas and Xylella for Integrated Plant...
Southern Europe could lose $22 billion fighting deadly olive tree disease
[...] The tree-killer is a bacterium called Xylella fastidiosa. Since 2013, it has killed millions of olive trees in Italy and is now threatening those in Spain and Greece. Together, these countries produce 95% of Europe's olive oil. A recent study projects that...
Our recorded webinars: a video playlist.
In case you missed any of them or you want to watch one of them again, check out this page on our web site: we collected all our educational webinars in a single player. You can find all the webinars listed in a playlist on our YouTube channel too - you can subscribe...
Want to know more about Xylella?
Knowing the importance of making communities (both experts and the general public) aware of the danger of Xylella fastidiosa as well as of its impact on European agriculture, the researchers of POnTE Project, in collaboration with a professional agency, made public...
Deadly olive tree disease across Europe ‘could cost billions’
Researchers say the economic costs of a deadly pathogen affecting olive trees in Europe could run to over €20 billion. They've modelled the future worst impacts of the Xylella fastidiosa pathogen which has killed swathes of trees in Italy. Spread by insects, the...
The fight to save Europe’s olive trees from disease
A plant disease spread by sap-sucking insects has been devastating olive and fruit orchards across southern Europe, but scientists are inching closer to halting its spread with the help of insect repelling clays, vegetative barriers and genetic analysis. In the late...
XF-ACTORS remembers Professor Giovanni Paolo Martelli
Giovanni Paolo Martelli, Professor Emeritus of Plant Pathology, passed away on January 8, 2020. He dedicated his long-lasting academic and scientific career to the advancement of knowledge, contributing outstanding achievements in plant pathology, with a relentless...
XF-ACTORS and PonTE: an intense week of dissemination events and conferences
An intense program of dissemination events and conferences for the consortium XF-ACTORS next week. Representatives of the XF-ACTORS and PonTE consortia will attend and contribute to the program of the following events: - WG4 meeting "Disease Management – Vector...
The new EU Plant Health regime: main changes foreseen in the EU Regulation 2016/2031
A technical seminar on the main implications for the nursery industry of the new Plant Health Regime that will be applicable from 14 December 2019, were presented on June 1st at Vivai Capitanio (Monopoli, Italy) within the annual event organized by ANVE and several partners.
A technical & practical course on Xylella fastidiosa organized by the regional association of agronomist (Apulia, Italy)
Photo courtesy: CIHEAM Bari A 3-day course has been organized this week by the Apulian association of agronomist to provide critical information and share relevant scientific background with agronomists and farm advisories operating in the Xylella-demarcated and...
ACLI RACALE presents the pilot project “Resilience”, an information desk for supporting growers in the area affected by Xylella fastidiosa
ACLI Racale Cooperative, a partner of the POnTE Project, opens today an information desk in the framework of Resilience, a local pilot initiative. This information point is located in the “hotspot” of the Xylella-infected area of Apulia (southern Italy) and aims to...
Testing antimicrobial peptide against Xylella
After the preliminary tests carried out in vitro to evaluate the efficacy of different antimicrobial peptides to inhibit the growth of Xylella fastidiosa, experiments have been now started on infected olive plants. In the framework of the project XF-ACTORS, and funded...
Students from the University of Louvain visiting areas affected by Xylella in Apulia
A group of students from the Université catholique de Louvain, leaded by Prof. Claude Bragard, was hosted early this week in Bari (Italy) by the research teams of CNR-IPSP, UNIBA and CIHEAM. The students during the short visit had the opportunity to visit olive groves...
New visit of delegates of DG-AGRI of the Xylella-demarcated areas in Apulia (Italy)
Following the visit of last year, on March 21, 2019, Gianfranco Colleluori (Deputy Head of Unit “Italy-Malta”) and Andrea Incarnati (Desk Officer Puglia) of the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural development of DG-AGRI visited the area of the Apulia region...
Apulian Community of Practices: first results
The outcomes of the first Apulian Community of Practices, organized under the aegis of XF-ACTORS project (WP8/Task 8.1) by CIHEAM-IAMB in close collaboration with Federbio, will be presented today in the frame of BIOL 2019 International Prize in Bari, Italy. The aim...
The Network on Plant Health discussing “Tool kit for surveillance of Xylella fastidiosa in the EU Member States”
A 3-day meeting just started at EFSA in Parma (Italy) with the aim of discussing several aspects related to surveillance and guidelines for Xylella surveys (survey design, risk factors identification, detection and delimiting surveys). The program includes a...
Europe steps up fight to stop deadly olive tree disease
It was more than 5 years ago when for the first time olive oil producers in Apulia region (southern Italy) started to report about severe desiccations affecting their olive trees, whose rapid progression was something unusual and never seen before in this area....
XylAppEU Android application to be launched soon
XylAppEU (vers. 2.1.2), an advanced version of the android application XylAppPuglia developed by CIHEAM of Bari for the official monitoring of Xylella fastdiosa in Puglia, has been completely redesigned, for the acquisition and traceability of field data in three...
XF-ACTORS Community of Practice starts its activities
On February 6th the activities of “Community of Practice” will begin. The Community of Practice is an initiative designed by a team that sees the collaboration of CIHEAM-IAMB (International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies- Mediterranean Agronomic...
The XF-ACTORS Digital Research Object Portal launched
The XF-ACTORS Digital Research Object Portal (DROP) is an infrastructure that aims to provide a unique entry point to search for open research data and open access documents on Xylella fastidiosa. What is DROP? The acronym DROP stands for Digital Research Object...
Italy’s olive crisis intensifies as deadly tree disease spreads
On November 14, journalist Alison Abbott published a second article this year on the continuous expansion of the spread of the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa in southern Italy, where infections are devastating ancient olive trees and entire olive groves. The journalist...
Capacity building and awareness raising seminars on Xylella fastidiosa
In the framework of the project XF-ACTORS the partner CIVI-ITALIA, an Italian Association of nursery consortia and Union of fruit producers, is organizing a series of technical seminars to update growers and nurserymen on the latest legislative provisions on...
Implemented the EU legislative measures to prevent the introduction into and the spread of Xylella fastidiosa
Enforcement of the New Regulatory Requirements for the movement of plants of Polygala myrtifolia. Read the full document on the Official Journal of the European Union or find it in our Legislation...
Technical advisors of AGROMILLORA visited Salento to gain knowledge on Xylella
A group of more than 20 technical advisors and country managers representing the Spanish company AGROMILLORA, world leader company for nursery plants, visited the olive groves of Salento (in the Italian region of Apulia) last June 20. The technical advisors came from...
Enlargement of the Apulian demarcated area
According with the decision of the Paff Committee held on 23 May 2018, the European Commission has expanded the demarcated area subject to containment for Xylella fastidiosa in the Italian region of Apulia, extending the infected zone to parts of the...
Italy referred to the EU Court of Justice over its failure to adequately prevent the further spread of Xylella in Apulia
On May 17, 2018 the European Commission referred Italy to the European Court of Justice "over its failure to adequately prevent further spread of the quarantine harmful organism 'Xylella fastidiosa' in Apulia". The press release issued by the European...
The EPPO diagnostic protocol for Xylella fastidiosa revised in Spring 2018
A new revision of the EPPO diagnostic protocol for Xylella fastidiosa has been released last month, with the introduction of several updates in the diagnostic assays, including new procedures for subspecies assignation. An in-press version of the document...
A French ministerial delegation visited Apulia to gain insights on Xylella fastidiosa
On April 24, a French delegation from the Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of Environment took part to a meeting with Italian authorities, stakeholders and researchers in the city of Racale (Apulia region) to discuss the latest information on...
Training course on Xylella fastidiosa at CIHEAM IAM Zaragoza on November 2018
A high-level training on Xylella fastidiosa will be held in Zaragoza (Spain) on November 2018. XF-ACTORS and POnTE projects will contribute by providing scientific support in terms of contents and lecturers. A one-week training course will be organized at...
Xylella: phitosanitary threat to olive and trials to control the epidemics presented at a conference in Rome
The latest updates about the spread of Xylella fastidiosa in olives in Apulia and the activities run by the H2020 projects POnTE and XF-ACTORS to hamper the bacterium were presented by Piefederico La Notte of IPSP-CNR at a National Rural Network’s conference focused...
The latest scientific information on Xylella discussed at a seminar in Bari
More than 60 people among researchers, stakeholders and local authorities attended a seminar held in Bari (Italy) to enlarge the knowledge on the research outcomes and latest information available on Xylella fastidiosa. On Wednesday, March 21, the seminar...
Meeting in Paris between XF-ACTORS members and representatives of the nursery industry
On February 15 and 16, 2018, in the framework of XF-ACTORS project, a meeting between researchers, representatives of the nursery industry and stakeholders took place at the headquarters of EPPO in Paris to discuss the proposal of a common scheme of certification for...
Updated the list of host plants susceptible to Xylella fastidiosa in the EU territory
Released by the European Commission – DG Health and Food Safety - the 10th update on the host plants susceptible to Xylella fastidiosa in the EU territory On 15 February 2018, the DG Health and Food Safety of the European Commission has updated the list of host plants...
Recommendations on Xylella by the European Nurserystock Association
A statement on Xylella fastidiosa by ENA, the European Nurserystock Association, targeted to its members and European nurseries. The European Nurserystock Association (ENA) examined the current situation of Xylella fastidiosa during the last General Assembly, held in...
Training on plant health surveys in Apulia under the “Better Training for Safer Food” initiative.
Early this month, 33 participants (mostly plant health and phytosanitary inspectors) from 19 EU countries took part in a 4-day course in the Apulia region (Italy), to gather knowledge on the regulations on Xylella fastidiosa, with a specific focus on the field...
Training course on Xylella fastidiosa for High School students in Bitonto (Apulia, Italy)
18 students of the High School “G.Galilei” of Bitonto, one of the most important cities for olive oil production in the Apulia region, participate to a study/work experience to learn more about Xylella fastidiosa. The course is organized by the Institute for...
Two technical seminars to raise awareness on Xylella fastidiosa organized in Apulia by the Italian Confederation of Farmers
More than 100 growers attended two seminars on Xylella fastidiosa in the municipalities of Ostuni and Ceglie Messapica, where an increasing number of outbreaks emerged recently during the last monitoring campaign (Oct-Dec 2017). The seminars, organized by the Cia –...
New implementing decision on Xylella fastidiosa adopted by the European Commission
Corsica and Balearic Islands recognized as areas under containment, option for the Member States to authorize the planting of host plants, possibility to reduce the width of the buffer zone up to 1 km, stricter requirements (such as the plant passports) for the...
Paris high level meeting on Xylella fastidiosa. EU ministers and Commissioner Andriukaitis agreed on a roadmap to tackle the bacterium.
On November 30 and December 01, 2017 a high level meeting to discuss the issue of Xylella fastidiosa has been held in Paris. The meeting was organized by the French Ministry of Agriculture and the Directorate General for Health and Food Safety of the European...
Technical workshop on Xylella fastidiosa: overview on the biology, genetic, vectors and options for controlling the spread of the infections
105 agronomists and 25 students attended a technical seminar in Lecce (southern Apulia, Italy) on November, 24. Organized by the local association of Professional agronomists, the seminar aimed to broaden the knowledge of the participants on the current situation of...
International Conferences on Xylella fastidiosa in 2017: contributions, videos and presentations are now available
Book of abstracts, educational videos and presentations on the latest findings and research accomplishments on Xylella fastidiosa are now available on the websites of EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) and the Department of Agriculture and Water resources of the...
Screening of olive cultivars for searching sources of resistance to Xylella fastidiosa
List of olive cultivars under evaluation, based on the year in which the experiments were started, both in the greenhouse (artificial inoculations) and under field conditions (exposure to infected vectors). An intense research program is ongoing with the aim to...
Researchers of IPSP-CNR and UNIBA interviewed by the Italian TV program “Terra” for a reportage on Xylella fastidiosa in the Apulia region.
On Monday 6 November, a reportage on Xylella fastidiosa and the ongoing research activities has been presented on the Italian TV program “Terra”, journalistic in-depths dedicated to sensitive issues for the civil society and broadcasted by Rete4 channel. To watch...
XF-ACTORS and POnTE researchers visit the Xylella demarcated area in Alicante province
THE DAY AFTER THE INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM OF VALENCIA, A GROUP OF RESEARCHERS INVOLVED IN XF-ACTORS AND PONTE PROJECTS VISITED THE DEMARCATED AREA FOR Xylella fastidiosa IN MAINLAND SPAIN. On September 28th, the Regional Government of Comunitat Valenciana and the...
New research on early detection of Xylella carried out in Apulia with ground field vehicle equipped with remote sensors.
Researchers from IVIA (Spain) visited in September the Xylella-infected area of Apulia to set novel research on early detection of Xylella fastidiosa. The research has been carried out using remote sensing, with the collaboration of CMCC and CIHEAM-IAMB partners. The...
The mobile app of the European conference on Xylella fastidiosa is now available
A mobile app for the "European conference on Xylella fastidiosa: finding answers to a global problem" is now available for free on Google Play and Apple Store. Google Play: http://bit.ly/2yZY3KG Apple Store: http://apple.co/2y2Ti51 A major scientific conference on...
Scientists from all over the world participated at a workshop in Locorotondo, Italy, on the early detection of Xylella fastidiosa.
Last September, a successful training workshop on sampling and diagnosis of Xylella fastidiosa has been held in Locorotondo, Bari, Italy, at CRSFA Basile Caramia. A second edition, foreseen for late January 2018, will be organized by ANSES, partner of POnTE project. A...
Researches with EPG system conducted in Apulia on vectors of Xylella fastidiosa.
Researchers from Spain visited the Xylella-infected area of Apulia in mid-September to set novel researches on vectors. The experiments were conducted with EPG system (Electrical Penetration Graph), with the aim to identify the specific feeding behavior associated...
EU research experts discussed at EPPO the Diagnostic Protocol for Xylella fastidiosa.
Experts from EU research institutions met at EPPO in Paris to discuss updates on the Diagnostic Protocol for Xylella fastidiosa. A series of revisions have been introduced and a draft document will be discussed during the next meeting, scheduled in Palma de Mallorca...
The demarcated area in mainland Spain expands after new detections of Xylella fastidiosa
26 new almond orchards confirmed positive by the Plant Health Authority of Comunitat Valenciana. The demarcated area covers now about 110,000 ha and 72 municipalities in Alicante province. On August 31, the Regional Government of Comunitat Valenciana confirmed new...
Updated the EU database of host plants of Xylella fastidiosa
The European Commission has updated the list of host plants found to be susceptible to Xylella fastidiosa in the territory of the European Union. The database now contains four categories of host plants in relation to the subspecies associated to the host...
Potential vectors of Xylella fastidiosa: CALL FOR PROPOSAL NOW OPEN
EFSA launched in early July 2017 a call for proposal to award specific grants on “Collection of data and information in Balearic Islands on biology of vectors and potential vectors of Xylella fastidiosa”. Given the new recent outbreaks of X. fastidiosa in Balearic...
Results of the 1st International External Quality Assessment studies for laboratory diagnosis of Xylella fastidiosa.
Molecular and serological methods used by expert laboratories performing X. fastidiosa diagnosis meet high standards of efficiency and accurateness. These are the results of a first international quality assessment study carried out within a Euphresco initiative, in...
1st XF-ACTORS factsheet available
A factsheet that provides a general overview of XF-ACTORS This factsheet, produced for dissemination purposes, describes the general characteristics of XF-ACTORS project. Starting from the description of the project and its consortium, the factsheet includes the...
European conference on Xylella fastidiosa, 13-15 November 2017. Full program available.
European conference on Xylella fastidiosa: finding answers to a global problem. Palma de Mallorca, 13-15 November 2017 A major scientific conference on European research into Xylella fastidiosa is to be held in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, from 13-15 November 2017. The...
Remote sensing and field evaluation activities carried out in the Apulia region
During the week of July 3rd, the PONTE and XF-ACTORS projects carried out a remote sensing airborne campaign over the area infected by Xylella fastidiosa in the Apulia region. The goal of the campaign was to acquire high resolution hyperspectral and thermal images...
Policy meeting on Xylella research in H2020, REA headquarters, Brussels
A global issue like Xylella fastidiosa requires joint actions between the actors involved. Therefore, a continuous exchange of knowledge between scientists and European policymakers brings added value, and it helps draft legislation that take into account the latest...
EUROPEAN CONFERENCE ON XYLELLA FASTIDIOSA: FINDING ANSWERS TO A GLOBAL PROBLEM – New deadline for the abstract submission – May 31
Palma de Mallorca. 13-15 November 2017 A major scientific conference on European research into Xylella fastidiosa is to be held in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, from 13-15 November 2017. The conference is being organised jointly by EFSA, the University of the Balearic...
PRESS CONFERENCE – The role of the National Research Council (CNR) in the research programs on Xylella fastidiosa: from the disease aetiology to the discovery of resistant olive varieties.
On May 5, 2017, a conference on Xylella fastidiosa will be organized at the CNR headquarters in Rome, Italy (Aula Marconi, piazzale Aldo Moro, 7 – Roma). The conference aims to provide the status of the ongoing research programs on this harmful plant pathogen and its...
EUROPEAN CONFERENCE ON XYLELLA FASTIDIOSA: FINDING ANSWERS TO A GLOBAL PROBLEM – New deadline for the abstract submission – May 31
International conference: “Xylella Fastidiosa: Finding Answers to a global problem” and XF-ACTORS Annual Meeting to be held next November in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. Call for abstract for the International Conference to be submitted here New deadline for the abstract...
New scientific evidence supports the existence of genetic traits for resistance to Xylella fastidiosa in olive germplasm
A scientific report has been released on March 23, 2017 by the team of researchers of the CNR-IPSP, DiSSPA-UNIBA and CRSFA “Basile Caramia” about further observations on the presence of resistance traits to Xylella fastidiosa in the olive germplasm. The scientific...
Publication of the Euphresco Strategic Research Agenda
Euphresco network has announced the publication on its website of the Strategic Research Agenda, developed to set the plant health research priorities for the next years, particularly for the sector of plant biosecurity. With the title “Plant health research...
A new EU project starts in November: XF-Actors
On November 1st 2016, XF-ACTORS project (Xylella Fastidiosa Active Containment Through a multidisciplinary-Oriented Research Strategy) has formally started. Funded by the European Commission as part of the Horizon 2020 program, the international research project is...
XF-ACTORS Kick of Meeting
On November 1st 2016, XF-ACTORS project (Xylella Fastidiosa Active Containment Through a multidisciplinary-Oriented Research Strategy) has formally started. Funded by the European Commission as part of the Horizon 2020 program, the international research project is...