How Italy saved the production of chestnuts from complete destruction

Italy has managed to achieve one of the most impressive revivals in European agriculture—saving chestnut production from complete destruction. Following the invasion of the Asian chestnut wasp Dryocosmus kuriphilus between 2011 and 2014, yields in the country plummeted to just 18,000 tons. Today, thanks to carefully planned state and scientific measures, production has stabilized at around 50,000 tons annually, reports Agrocapital. Prof. Doicho Dimov: There is a danger that the virus will eliminate valuable genetic resources. The recovery is the result of a targeted state strategy and scientific approach, rather than chance. Italian agricultural services implement biological control through the mass release of the pest's natural enemy—the parasitic insect Torymus sinensis. This intervention has managed to stop the spread of the wasp and restore the productivity of chestnut plantations. In parallel, the country has restructured its entire industry. It has abandoned the old, ...