Gulyas said grapevine FD had been confirmed in 13 of Hungary's 19 counties, with 15 of 22 wine regions affected. He noted that containing the spread of the pathogen required pulling up entire vineyards.

Gulyas said the government would discuss compensation for farmers later.

Countrywide defence against grapevine leafhopper in progress - minister

Grapevine flavescence doree is now present in 21 wine regions and there is a countrywide defence against the American grapevine leafhopper that is spreading the disease, Agriculture Minister Istvan Nagy said in a video message on social media on Sunday.

The minister said 200 inspection teams are searching vineyards for signs of the disease and drones are also being used. More than 8,000 hectares of vineyards were inspected by the end of the week, he added.

Nagy noted that the government has earmarked HUF 3.8bn for efforts to contain grapevine FD. Roughly half of the amount will be spent on post-harvest and spring pesticide treatments, he said.

AgMin discusses measures to combat grapevine leafhopper with winegrowers association

Agriculture Minister Istvan Nagy met with the National Council of Wine Communities (HNT) on Monday to discuss coordinated measures to fight the American grapevine leafhopper, which spreads grapevine flavescence doree.

In a post on social media, Nagy noted that grapevine FD had been confirmed in 13 of Hungary's 19 counties, with winegrowing regions in the west of the country and around Lake Balaton hardest hit.

He said the government had approved an action plan to contain the spread of the pathogen and earmarked HUF 3.8bn for the purpose. He added that support would also be provided for replanting vineyards, if necessary.

The HNT is sending out small teams to assess the situation in vineyards around the country and food safety authority Nebih is conducting tests with a mobile laboratory.

Source: MTI – Hungary’s national news agency since 1881. While MTI articles are usually factual, some may contain political bias, and readers should be aware that such content does not reflect the position of XpatLoop, which is neutral and independent.

Since the goal of XpatLoop is to keep readers well briefed, right across the spectrum of opinions, MTI items are shared to ensure readers are aware of all narratives within the local media.

XpatLoop believes in empowering readers to form their own views through complete and comprehensive coverage. To facilitate this XpatLoop has a balanced range of news partners, as you can see when you surf around XpatLoop.com

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