Opponents of EU Xylella Plan Coalesce Around New Narrative

Activists in Puglia who oppose the EU/Regional plan to block the expansion of Xylella fastidiosa appear to be coalescing around a new narrative concerning the bacterium and its relation to the disease syndrome that is killing olive trees in southern (and, increasingly, in central) Puglia. Once firmly-held points of faith among activists have fallen by the wayside while other, formerly marginal viewpoints come to the fore and consolidate into a new story focused on halting the current EU/Regional campaign for widespread application of pesticides and herbicides to kill the insect vector of the disease and its weedy hosts.
The new consensus largely references opinions advanced since 2014 by retired Professor Pietro Perrino, former head of the same Bari lab of the National Research Council (CNR), where a younger generation of researchers has been leading scientific inquiry into Xylella. Professor Perrino contradicts his younger colleagues, accusing them of being blinded by a scientific system driven by Big Pharma that seeks “allopathic” rather than holistic solutions. Perrino identifies himself as a geneticist and agronomist….

(Reposted Original July 2018)