The situation affects approximately 3,500 acres of potato plantations in the west of the country.
The disease is a potato psyllid known as paratrioza and "comes from the USA via Mexico and Guatemala," comments Cristino Melgar from the Honduran Agricultural Research Foundation.
Taking Chile as an example, Salvadoran agriculture must modernize and work with a business mindset, investing in technology and innovation.
Mario Salaverría, president of the Sugar Association, commented that the sector needs to eradicate plagues and diseases, to avoid being held back by international food safety barriers.
Called “yellow dragon”, this plague originally detected in Nicaragua is threatening Costa Rica’s orange plantations.
The State’s Phytosanitary Service (SFE), part of the Agriculture Ministry (MAG), stated that the bacteria known as “yellow dragon” (Huanglongbing (HLB)), has traveled through the Caribbean coast from Miami to Belize, Honduras, Cuba, Dominican Republic and Nicaragua.
The "yellow dragon" plague, which has already created havoc throughout the world, could affect 6,000 hectares of orange farms in Panama.
The insect of the plague was detected in Florida, U.S.A. and has already arrived in Belize. The threat of the plague, which could affect more than 1,000 Panamanian producers, caused the Department of Farm Development (MIDA) to declare a phytosanitary emergency. The director of vegetable health at MIDA, Ariel Espino, told Laestrella.com.pa that "they have closed the borders to incoming plants processed from the U.S., mainly from Florida, in addition to those from Brazil and the Caribbean islands where the insect has also wreaked havoc."
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