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GAETAN BALLY
During the phytosanitary monitoring of the vines, this year more than 50 hectares of viticultural area were examined throughout the canton. The viticulture office and professional oenologists took 286 symptomatic samples from 125 cadastral plots, distributed in 28 wine-growing communities, and analyzed them.
The Agroscope research institute found golden yellow yellowing in 38 plants from one plot in Port-Valais and in two vines in the municipality of Ardon in two adjacent plots. For both municipalities, the mandatory control perimeter of the disease vector insect has been established.
All vineyard owners and managers in this area are required to carry out insecticide treatments in the next year in accordance with the requirements of the Department of Agriculture. In addition, both municipalities plus the municipality of Vétroz are declared “regulated municipalities” until further notice. This also means that any extraction of plant material from the vine is prohibited in these communities, except under official supervision.
Golden yellow is caused by microorganisms (phytoplasmas) and leads to the complete death of the affected strains. According to the canton, this disease is the worst yellowing of the vine, since it can spread very quickly throughout the vineyard and there is no curative treatment.
The golden yellow yellowing belongs to the quarantine diseases and is mandatory according to the phytosanitary regulation of the federal government. The disease has been proven in Switzerland since 2004. The last case of golden yellowing in Valais was discovered in Fully in 2016, writes the canton of Valais.
