Meeting with expert in Chestnuts forest of Zestaphoni
At the invitation of the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture, international expert Dr. Irina Matziakh is on visit in Georgia. At the initiative of the National Forestry Agency, a meeting was held in the disease-damaged chestnut forests of Zestafoni. Since last year, forest pathological studies, as well as laboratory studies, have been carried out in the diseased chestnut forests of the Zestafoni forest area.
Today, the expert familiarized the local population, representatives of local government and field specialists with the results of the study. The meeting also discussed necessary future activities, as well as further plans of the Forest Agency.
Based on the research results, the National Forestry Agency has developed a long-term action plan, according to which the implementation of comprehensive measures will begin in the near future, that implies the use of biological methods of fighting against the disease, as well as sanitary felling, forest restoration and measures promoting natural forest restoration.
Scientists to this day argue about methods and effective means of combating the disease, however, according to international experience, the most common practice are considered sanitary cutting and mechanisms of biological control of the disease.
The problem of drying chestnuts (Castanea sativa Mill.) has existed in our country (as well as in Europe) for many years. Drying problems were identified at the end of the 19th century, especially in western Georgia. According to the researchers of that time, drying was caused by the so-called "ink disease". To date, the cause of drying revealed Endothia parasitica.
