Dominican Republic: Agriculture rules out the presence of potato pests on Constanza farm
During a press conference, the director of Plant Health, Rosa Lazala, announced that the disease maintains “its status as a quarantine pest absent in the country,” due to phytosanitary surveillance and the country’s climatic conditions.
The Plant Health Department of the Ministry of Agriculture reported on Monday that, after an inspection and laboratory analysis, no nematodes of the genus Heterodera were found on a potato farm in Constanza, thus ruling out initial suspicions about the possible presence of this pest.
During a press conference, the director of Plant Health, Rosa Lazala, announced that the disease maintains “its status as a quarantine pest absent in the country,” due to phytosanitary surveillance and the country’s climatic conditions, which are not favorable to it.
Lazala called on potato producers to approach the authorities of this Ministry to clarify doubts or suspicions regarding phytosanitary matters and not to be misled by false information that affects the image of agricultural production.
"We will continue with the sampling process throughout the Constanza Valley, to continue carrying out the corresponding studies, until we have scientific evidence," Lazala said.
The official report on the suspected discovery of nematodes indicates that the country is in contact with the laboratory of the National Phytosanitary Reference Center of Senasica of Mexico to send samples when the potato harvest begins in order to determine the presence or absence of the pest.
Likewise, the International Regional Organization for Agricultural Health (OIRSA) supports the process.
Also, technicians from the Constanza Agricultural Zone, with whom they carried out a massive sampling of all the potato farms in the valley and its surroundings, did not find the presence of the nematode in question, so the suspicion remains in a single farm that has already been intervened.
Following instructions from the Minister of Agriculture, Limber Cruz, work will continue in order to safeguard the national production of crops in the Constanza Valley and any other Dominican agricultural area.
What is the golden potato nematode?
Globodera rostochiensis, commonly known as the golden nematode, golden eelworm or potato yellow cyst nematode, is a pest of plants in the family Solanaceae, primarily infecting potatoes and tomatoes, as well as a variety of other root crops.
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