{"id":13944,"date":"2025-03-12T15:53:40","date_gmt":"2025-03-12T15:53:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iplantprotect.pt\/?p=13944"},"modified":"2025-06-24T11:07:07","modified_gmt":"2025-06-24T11:07:07","slug":"citizen-science-project-in-the-alentejo-help-researchers-detect-the-pest-that-worries-farmers","status":"publish","type":"eventos","link":"https:\/\/iplantprotect.pt\/en\/eventos\/projeto-de-ciencia-cidada-no-alentejo-ajude-os-investigadores-a-detetar-a-praga-que-preocupa-os-agricultores\/","title":{"rendered":"Citizen Science Project in Alentejo: Help researchers detect the pest that worries farmers"},"content":{"rendered":"

By the end of spring, the National Vector Insect Monitoring System project team will be working on the Xylella fastidiosa<\/em> (SNM_XylellaVt), funded by the PRR, challenges citizens to keep an eye on plant foams: by detecting foams on plants, recording the data in the app and filling in the online form, it helps them to create an up-to-date map of the temporal and spatial distribution of the appearance of the juvenile stage of 4 species of leafhoppers in Portugal, which, once adult, are responsible for carrying the quarantine bacterium Xylella fastidiosa<\/em> <\/a>from one plant to another.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The presence of the bacteria has already been detected in Portugal Xylella fastidiosa<\/em> in four species of leafhoppers in mainland Portugal, but little is known about the current temporal and spatial distribution of these insects in our country. With this in mind, the project team SNM_XylellaVt<\/a>, challenges citizens to be on the lookout for foams, located mainly on the stems of plants, in their daily lives, on vacation in Portugal, or when walking in natural spaces, olive groves, vineyards, pastures, orchards or in the montado. Foams are signs of the presence of these insect species that are vectors for the transmission of the bacteria Xylella fastidiosa<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Left and center photos: Examples of foams found in plants; Right photo: foam leafhopper, an insect that transmits the bacteria. Xylella fastidiosa<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith the help of all citizens, we will be able to understand the population dynamics of insect vectors and their relationship with plants, which could help us plan measures to combat Xylella fastidiosa, preventing the spread of this bacterium. This is very relevant given that we don't have a direct curative treatment for this bacterium, which makes its control extremely difficult,\u201d explains Ilaria Marengo, a partner in the SNM_XylellaVt project and researcher at InPP. \u201cDestroying infected plants and controlling insect vectors are currently the main measures to prevent the spread of the bacterium,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everyone can contribute to the \u201cHelp us save your plants!\u201d campaign that is currently underway: all you have to do is, when you spot the leafhopper foams, take photos of the foams, located on the stems of the plants, and of the plant where you found them, record the data in the ODK Collect 2024 application available for your cell phone (see image below), record the date and geographical location - if possible with GPS coordinates - or alternatively, submit this data using a online form<\/a> on the project platform. Once you have submitted your data, you will be able to view it on the available map a<\/a>q<\/a>ui<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Steps on how to install and use the ODK Collect 2024 application on your cell phone or tablet. To install, go to the guide on the DGAV website here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The \u201cHelp us save your plants!\u201d campaign is being developed as part of the SNM_XylellaVt project, which is currently underway. SNM_XylellaVt, led by the Centro Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR CENTRO), and in which InPP is a partner, aims to contain the disease to the areas identified so far and to stop it spreading to the rest of Portugal. To this end, it is creating a network for monitoring the X. fastidiosa<\/em> and its vector insect(s), in particular the foam leafhoppers, with the scientific name Philaenus spumarius<\/em>, Philaenus tesselatus<\/em>, Neophilaenus lineatus<\/em> e Cicadella viridis<\/em>, This will enable the development of new tools, such as risk forecasting models that will allow the National Agricultural Warning Service (SNAA) to warn in real time about the economic attack levels (NEA) for these insects, and prevent the spread of infection to crops that are relevant to national agriculture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2019, the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa<\/em> was first detected in Portugal, in the metropolitan area of Porto, and has since been detected in other areas of mainland Portugal. This bacterium attacks a wide range of plants, posing a risk to agricultural and forestry crops of significant economic importance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information on the bacteria Xylella fastidiosa<\/em> access the website of the Directorate-General for Food and Veterinary (DGAV) here<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At\u00e9 ao final da primavera, a equipa do projeto Sistema Nacional de Monitoriza\u00e7\u00e3o de Insetos Vetores da Xylella fastidiosa (SNM_XylellaVt), financiado pelo PRR, desafia os cidad\u00e3os a estarem atentos \u00e0s espumas das plantas: ao detetar espumas nas plantas, registar os dados na app e preencher o formul\u00e1rio online, ajuda-os a criar um mapa atualizado da […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15647,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","categories":[26,222],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13944","eventos","type-eventos","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-destaque"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iplantprotect.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/eventos\/13944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iplantprotect.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/eventos"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iplantprotect.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/eventos"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iplantprotect.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/iplantprotect.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/eventos\/13944\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15648,"href":"https:\/\/iplantprotect.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/eventos\/13944\/revisions\/15648"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iplantprotect.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iplantprotect.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iplantprotect.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iplantprotect.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}