30/07/2015 (Agence Europe) - Efforts against Xylella Fatidiosa stepped up in Corsica. A week after it was announced that a plant infected with the Xylella Fastidiosa bacterium had been discovered on Corsica, French Agriculture Minister Stéphane Le Foll, speaking in Sartène, Southern Corsica, announced measures to counter this bacterium that has laid waste to hundreds of thousands of hectares of olive groves in Italy. Le Foll announced that initial aid of €400,000 would be made available to government agencies in Corsica and €100,000 to Fredon, the regional federation for protection against harmful organisms. The minister added that plant import derogations would be further restricted. The only way to combat this bacterium is through the destruction of infected plants (grubbing up then incineration). (LC)