mMitigate lethal

The Council of Provincial Services of Representation of the State in Zambézia will in July host a forum to elaborate strategies to mitigate the lethal coconut palm yellowing disease, the same body decided in Quelimane on Tuesday (19-05).

Meeting spokesman Tito Celestino explained that the event would aim to find viable solutions to the problem of lethal yellowing, which is devastating Zambezia’s palm plantations. It is estimated that Zambézia has, in the last 20 years, lost close to 15 million coconut trees to the disease, casting thousands of families into absolute poverty.

The projected forum comes at a time when agricultural engineer Paulo Dias says he has identified two varieties of coconut tree resistant to the disease in Pebane district, Zambézia.

His conclusion is the result of years of investigation, but has not yet been validated by government or scientific authorities. Dias names the varieties as the giant green and bronze coconut palms found in the extinct Companhia do Boror’s former production block in Pebane.