Scottish Government

This growing report is available in pdf

This survey was carried out in support of Scottish legislation which established a "nil" tolerance for Dickeya infections in seed crops. The survey is risk-based. As a consequence, all seed and ware crops produced from non-Scottish origin seed (including farm saved seed from ware of non-Scottish origin)were targeted and inspected twice as part of the Growing Crop Inspection (GCI) (see table). There was a marked reduction in the number of non-Scottish origin crops grown in 2011 and this is reflected in the small number of samples tested from this category. In addition, groundkeepers sampled from fields which had a Dickeya-infected crop in 2009 or 2010 were also tested, as were a large group of crops deemed to be at higher risk. This latter category included seed and ware crops grown on holdings which had a previous Dickeya infection, or which are in the vicinity of watercourses known to be infested with Dickeya spp. Finally, a representative sample of Scottish-origin seed and ware crops were also included, comprising roughly 10% of all seed crops, selected from SE or E crops showing blackleg symptoms during GCI.

No samples tested positive for Dickeya spp..

Breakdown of samples included in the 2011 survey

* This category includes crops grown on holding which have had previous Dickeya infections or crops grown in the vicinity of Dickeya-infested watercourses.

This report concludes the Growing Crop phase of Scotland's annual Dickeya surveillance cycle. The next phase targets harvested tubers from the 2011 season and will include pre-planting testing of any non-Scottish origin crops to be sewn in 2012. Results from this survey will be available in April 2012.