May 19, 2005
Source: Cairo Magazine,
12 May 2005 [edited]
<http://www.cairomagazine.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=910&format=html>
Tuber troubles, record number of potatoes, but who will eat
them?
Egyptian potato producers and exporters face a new ban on
potato shipments from the European Union [EU] following a sudden
outbreak of brown rot (BR) in mid-February 2005. Greek officials
notified the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture that several cases
of BR, a bacterial disease that attacks the vascular bundles in
potatoes and rots out the inside of the tuber, had been found.
Greece banned all potato imports from Egypt, with most members
of
the EU following suit.
According to Safwat Al Jadad, director of the Brown Rot
Eradication Project in Cairo, a division of the Ministry, only a
few cases (<1 percent) of diseased potatoes were discovered in
shipments entering Greece. He was shocked to learn that the EU
has already imposed a ban again on our exports.
The office of the European Commission (EC) in Egypt defended the
EU ban on the grounds that several countries, including the
U.K., Italy, Greece and the Netherlands, reported being sent
infected shipments.
This is the 2nd time that Egyptian exports have faced a ban from
European countries. In April 1999, the EU introduced a similar
ban on Egyptian potatoes after the number of infested
consignments rose. Egypt applied the
"pest-free area" system, in which soil is considered diseased
unless proven free of BR. By 2000, after months of negotiations,
the EU agreed to again import potatoes planted in those areas as
long as the number of intercepted cases is less than 5.
According to Hamdi Al Tahan, chairman of the General Committee
for Potato Exporters at the Federation of Chambers of Commerce,
no changes have been made in potato production. All the potatoes
that are exported are free from BR, but the EU began to worry
after Egyptian potato exports increased tremendously in 2004.
According to the latest statistics from the Agriculture
Ministry, the number of potato exports has risen from 250 000
tons in 2004 to 350 000 tons in 2005. The EU had received
between 200 000 to 250 000 tons as of the start of the ban.
Exports have been increasing dramatically over the past few
years, jumping from $5.5 million worth in 2002 to $20 million in
2004.
Al Tahan commented that the crop was to be the best year for
Egyptian exports in decades, but the ban turned everything
upside down. Now, a ton of potatoes is sold for LE 190-200
instead of LE 1200.
Last week, several members of parliament pressured the
Agricultural Ministry asking for immediate action by the
government. Meanwhile, potato producers have to determine how to
distribute the EU's portion of the 2.5
million tons planted this year. According to Atta Muhammad, a
potato producer in Menoufiya, this huge amount cannot be
consumed domestically.
[Byline: Summer Said]
--
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[The bacterium causing bacterial wilt (BW) is _Ralstonia
solanacearum_ (Rs). It is found in tropical to temperate regions
worldwide, as 25-30 deg C is the optimum temperature for the
strains. Rs can survive for several years in the soil and also
remain alive on host plants belonging to the Nightshade family
(tomato, nightshade, capsicum, aubergine, tobacco, etc.) as well
as other plants. It is spread by irrigation water or by infected
seed potatoes.
There are 3 races of Rs on the basis of pathogenicity. Within
the species 38 RFLP groups have been distinguished, and they
form 2 genetically distinct major divisions with origins in
Australasia and the Americas. The host range, which includes
over 200 plant species, is one of the widest of all the
phytopathogenic bacteria. Species infected by Rs include the
_Solanaceae_, but more than 50 other plant families also contain
susceptible species. Worldwide, the most important are:
tomatoes, Musa spp., tobacco, and potatoes. Many weeds are also
hosts of the pathogen and therefore increase the potential of Rs
to build up inoculum.
Different pathogenic races within the species may show very
limited host ranges. Race 1 affects tobacco, tomatoes, potatoes,
aubergines, diploid bananas, and many other (Solanaceous) crops
and weeds, and has a high growth temperature optimum (35-37 deg
C). Race 2 affects triploid bananas and _Heliconia_ spp., and
has a high temperature optimum (35-37 deg C). Race 3 biovar 2
has a lower temperature optimum (27 deg C) and affects mainly
potatoes and tomatoes. A considerable number of additional
symptomless weed hosts have been reported, which may enable race
3 biovar 2 to survive in latent form, or in their rhizosphere.
Several weed species
commonly inhabit edges of waterways, thus providing an inoculum
source. There are also reports of natural occurrence of race 3
biovar 2 in _Pelargonium hortorum_. Within the EPPO-region, race
3 biovar 2 (equivalent to biovar 2), is present and has
potential for spread.
Rs is a contentious topic in agricultural trade negotiations in
the EU and is subject to strict quarantine and eradication
regulations in the United States. No economically feasible
controls exist. Avoid planting on land
with a previous history of BW. Instead, grasses, legumes, and
cucurbits should be planted to reduce inoculum of Rs. - Mod.DH
Links:
<http://www.defra.gov.uk/planth/brownrot.htm>
<http://www.plantdepommedeterre.org/eng/disease/bactp.htm>
<http://ibws.nexenservices.com/from_july_%2001.htm>]
