The BeXyl Project is on the Spanish and international press, thanks to an extensive report (English version here) of El País, one of the top newspapers in Spain. “You have to learn to live with the bacteria and minimize the damage. What growers would like – to throw a pesticide at it and for the problem to simply disappear – will never happen” BeXyl coordinator Blanca B. Landa, states in the article. “The best way to combat the bacteria is to keep it out,” she warns.

The report – entitled An army of scientists battles bacteria that has annihilated millions of olive trees – outlines the state of the play of the X. fastidiosa infection in Europe, focuses on research in Spain, and describes some of the activities of the international BeXyl Project, involving more than 30 institutions from 14 countries. In particular, the author of the article refers to the dogs’ training to improve the detection at the entry point of plants in Europe and the optimization of airborne images technology to enhance surveillance when the infection establishes in a territory.