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Search results

1. Insights

   National

   As required by European and national phytosanitary legislation (Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 and Legislative Decree No. 19/2021), Italy has a National Survey Plan (PNI) for plant pests to be carried out annually.
   The PNI on a national basis stems from the survey activities that each Regional Plant Protection Service and the Autonomous Provinces of Trento and Bolzano plan to carry out in the relevant year.

2. Insights

   Phytosanitary surveillance

   Phytosanitary prevention is implemented by means of a capillary control of the territory by not only the staff appointed by the Plant Protection Service but also with the help of all citizens. It is the main means by which the spread and establishment of plant pests is prevented and their eradication is economically and environmentally sustainable.

3. Insights

   Potato Globoderae

   They are among the most dangerous pests for potato cultivation. In Italy they appeared in the early 1960s. In Trentino, it was found in 2020 in a couple of limited areas dedicated to the production of potatoes for consumption.

4. Insights

   Grapevine Flavescence dorée

   Flavescence dorée (FD) is the most serious of the phytoplasma diseases affecting grapevines. Also known by the generic term 'yellowness' coined by its typical symptom, it is quarantined throughout the EU.

5. Insights

   Apple tree brooms

   Due to the seriousness of the damage that it has been causing to agriculture in Trentino in recent years, the apple bush disease is the subject of compulsory control in the Autonomous Province of Trento.

6. Insights

   Erwinia amylovora (Fire blight)

   Erwinia amylovora is the agent of fire blight, one of the most serious and dangerous diseases affecting plants belonging to the Rosaceae family, both cultivated and wild, fruiting and ornamental.
   Because of the seriousness of the damage it can cause to agriculture, nurseries and the ecological balance in general, E. amylovora has also been the subject of compulsory control in the Province of Trento in the years when outbreaks of a certain importance were detected.

7. Insights

   Apple proliferation phytoplasma

   Apple Blight disease (or Apple Proliferation - AP) is a phytopathology caused by the harmful organism Candidatus Phytoplasma mali' ('Ca. P. mali') one of the main pathogens affecting apple cultivation in Trentino.

8. Insights

   Synchytrium endobioticum

   Synchytrium endobioticum is a fungal pathogen, the causal agent responsible for black potato mange (potato wart) that is regulated as a quarantine pest of EU relevance and is known to occur in European territory. It has been found in the Province of Trento after 50 years since it was last found on Italian territory.

9. Insights

   Globodera pallida and rostochiensis

   Globoderae are microscopic pests that attack the roots mainly of potatoes, but also tomatoes, aubergines and other solanaceous plants. These organisms are a major plant health problem worldwide and are quarantine pests under EU Reg. (EU) 2072/2019.

10. Insights

    Grapevine golden flacescence

    Flavescence dorée is a quarantine disease that is considered to be one of the most important and destructive diseases affecting vines and is therefore subject to compulsory control measures throughout the country and province. Due to its epidemic character and the seriousness of the damage caused to vineyards, the phytoplasma responsible for the disease is included in the lists of quarantine organisms relevant to the European Union. Its dangerousness is linked to the high transmission efficiency of the pathogen by its main vector, the cicada Scaphoideus titanus, an insect commonly present and widespread in Trentino vineyards that feeds and carries out its biological cycle entirely on vines, with which it is closely associated.

11. Insights

    Aromia bungii (Red-necked Cerambicide)

    Aromia bungii is a xylophagous insect (cerambicide beetle) harmful at the larval stage. It is a quarantine organism, listed in Annex II, Part B of Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 as it can cause plant desiccation and death.

12. Insights

    Geosmithia morbida and Pityophthorus juglandis

    The 'copper walnut blight' or 'thousand-cancer disease' is a plant disease caused by the ascomycete fungus Geosmithia morbida, which is transmitted to the plant by the adult of the scolythid insect Pityophthorus juglandis, which, by piercing the bark of walnut plants in order to lay its eggs, acts as a vector spreading the disease. The coexistence of the pathogen and its vector is therefore necessary for the symptoms of this disease to manifest.
    By virtue of their limited spread and the high presence of susceptible hosts on the European continent, Geosmithia morbida and Pityophthorus juglandis are included in the list of quarantine pests known to occur in the territory of the European Union (Annex II, Part B, Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072).

13. Insights

    Xylella fastidiosa

    Xylella fastidiosa is a bacterial plant pathogen transmitted by insect vectors and associated with serious diseases affecting a wide variety of plants. In grapevines, it causes Pierce's disease, which has been a major problem for grape growers in the US and South America. The bacterium was discovered in Puglia on olive trees in October 2013, and was also the first European finding. Since then, its presence has also been reported in France, Spain and Portugal.

14. Insights

    Popillia japonica (Japanese beetle)

    Popillia japonica (also called Japanese beetle) is a priority quarantine pest for the European Union . The insect is not dangerous to humans, but as it feeds on more than 300 plant species (including agricultural crops, ornamental plants and forests), the socio-economic and environmental impact of its introduction can be significant.

15. Insights

    Bursaphelenchus xylophilus

    Bursaphelenchus xylophilus is the nematode responsible for pine decay, a phytopathy that rapidly leads to the death of conifers. It poses a serious threat not only because of the presence in Europe of large areas of forest consisting of susceptible plants and favourable climatic conditions for its establishment, but also because of its ability to spread via vector insects belonging to the genus Monochamus, some species of which are present in the territory of the Union.

16. Insights

    Epitrix spp. (Potato Altica)

    Epitrix is a beetle insect belonging to the family Chrysomelidae. The main species of phytosanitary interest are E. cucumeris, E. papa, E. subcrinita and E. tuberis.
    It is a quarantine pest that is fortunately not yet widespread in Europe (at the moment it has only been found on the Iberian peninsula) but has caused considerable damage on the American continent.

17. Press releases

    "Discover Mountain Jobs', EUSALP's forest and timber camp

    Registration by Thursday 31 July

    Publication date: 28/07/2025

    
18. Insights

    Anoplophora chinensis and glabripennis

    A. chinensis (CLB) and A. glabripennis (ALB) are cerambycid beetles of Asian origin, introduced in recent decades in Europe and America (ALB only). In Italy they are present in several regions.
    The routes of entry and spread are mainly linked to trade in materials that may contain larvae (ornamental plants, timber and wooden packaging).

19. Insights

    Harmful organisms

    The globalisation of trade and climate change have in recent years increased the introduction of new plant pests in areas where they were previously absent.

20. Documents

    Brochure Laboratorio Europa 2025- 2026

    pieghievole informativo