Semi di scienza per ridare paesaggio agrario al Salento | Giovanni Melcarne | TEDxLecce

Quick Overview

Giovanni Melcarne details the multi-faceted crisis facing the Salento region due to Xylella fastidiosa, emphasizing the need for a scientific, collaborative, and proactive approach involving genetic improvement, field testing of resistant olive cultivars, and combating disinformation to safeguard the centuries-old olive landscape.

Key Points: The Xylella fastidiosa bacterium represents an economic, social, landscape, and environmental crisis for Salento, with 1.8 million olive trees already dead by 2013. The speaker's research focuses on propagating and selecting resistant olive individuals, using both traditional (e.g., Coratina, Leccino, Nardò) and new cultivars, some of which have shown resistance to both biotic and abiotic stresses. Genetic improvement programs involve crossing resistant parent plants (like Coratina) with productive ones (like Leccino) to create resilient offspring, resulting in 4,000 crosses tested over 9 years. Official data from the National Phytosanitary Service (indicated as 'Falso' in a slide) incorrectly attributed most olive dieback to Xylella, whereas only 48.6% of symptomatic plants were positive, with 68.7% of the rest being non-symptomatic carriers. A virtuous collaboration base operates in Gagliano del Capo (LE) involving institutions like IPSP, CNR, and private stakeholders like Forestaforti and Save the Olives, securing funding for field testing. The speaker advocates for a proactive approach, focusing on planting resistant cultivars in the field (as shown by the new plantation image) to ensure the future of olive oil production globally.

Context: The presentation by Giovanni Melcarne addresses the devastating impact of Xylella fastidiosa on the ancient olive groves of the Salento region in Southern Italy, which began seriously affecting the area around October 15, 2013. Melcarne discusses the scientific efforts—including genetic crossing and field trials—undertaken by researchers and local stakeholders to find and propagate olive varieties resistant to the bacterium, contrasting this scientific work with the spread of misleading information ('fake news') regarding the disease's impact.