The first “anti Xylella dog task force” is born with dogs specialized in the early detection of the bacterium through the sense of smell thanks to the collaboration between the National Body of Italian Dog-loving (Enci) CNR-IPSP (Institute for the Sustainable Protection of Plants), Unaprol and Coldiretti. With Xylella, which is wreaking havoc on olive trees in Puglia, advancing dangerously and also threatening other regions of Italy, the speed in identifying the outbreaks becomes a fundamental strategic element to immediately eliminate the new centers of spread of the disease arrived in Italy through fault of some plants imported from Latin America.
The special four-legged team will be presented for the first time at national level, Tuesday 7 December at 9 at the Masseria San Martino in Fasano, (Brindisi), Pezze di Greco, in via San Martino di Tours 13, where you can see live dogs trained to identify the insidious disease of olive trees at work.
This is the first pilot initiative to develop new actions to prevent the spread of alien diseases and insects that, as a result of climate change and the globalization of trade, increasingly cross borders to arrive in Italy where they cause enormous losses to the environment, to biodiversity. and to the national agri-food heritage with damage to employment and the economy.
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