| Nov 16, 2001 (M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) -- DEFRA is launching a
consultation period inviting sugar beet experts and interested parties an
opportunity to give their views about future policy on the control of the
rhizomania disease which has caused plant health experts concern hitting
the vegetable.
This year, 68 new outbreaks were found during the official survey.
This is the highest annual total since the disease was first discovered
in the UK in 1987.
Of 211 farms now known to be infected, 201 are in Norfolk or Suffolk.
Given this number of findings it will not be possible to retain
protected zone status for the whole of the UK when it is reviewed by the
EC next January.
DEFRA is inviting views from all interested organisations. The options
will range from removing statutory controls from this disease altogether,
to negotiating within the EC for continuation of a reduced protected zone
excluding Norfolk and Suffolk.
Notes for Editors:
1. Rhizomania is a disease caused by Beet necrotic yellow vein virus,
and spread by a soil-borne fungus. In susceptible sugar beet varieties it
causes reductions in gross yield and sugar levels. Once established in a
field it persists for many years. It has no known implications for human
health.
2. The first case in the UK was found in Suffolk in 1987. Since then
210 farms have been found to be infected during annual official surveys by
the Plant Health and Seeds Inspectorate (PHSI). 68 of these outbreaks were
found in this year's survey. 201 of the 211 infected farms are in Norfolk
and Suffolk. Outlying cases have in recent years been found in
Nottinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Staffordshire and Essex, and this year
for the first time in Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, Rutland and Yorkshire.
3. A policy of statutory containment measures was adopted in 1987 in
order to provide some protection for UK growers while the industry
developed varieties of beet tolerant to the disease. When the Single
Market was established in 1993, 'protected zone' status was negotiated for
a limited period for the UK, and for some other Member States. This
enabled continued measures aimed at restricting new entries of the virus.
Imports to and movements within the zone of beet, beet seed and root crops
are controlled, for example, by restricting the level of soil present to
1%, or specifying that the seed must be from an area free from the
disease. Measures are also taken on infected farms to restrict further
spread of the disease; these measures include destruction of infected
crops, strict hygiene requirements, a ban on the production of beet in
infected fields and restrictions on the production of plants for
transplanting.
4. Consultation documents are available from Plant Health, Foss House,
Peasholme Green, YORK YO1 7PX, tel 01904 455178
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