Phytosanitary certification

Olive plants can be affected by a large number of pathogens such as viruses, phytoplasmas, bacteria, fungi and chromista, which may cause serious diseases and affect the yield and quality of olive production. Since the aim of this chapter is to give an appraisal of the importance of olive plants sanitary certification, the description focuses on pathogens transmitted by propagation material, including those associated with serious diseases on olive crops and those that, even if in olive plants cause latent infections, can affect other economically significant cultivated plants. Phytosanitary selection and certification programs as possible remedies to avoid pathogen dissemination by vegetative propagation are described. In the framework of these programs, an update on the most recent detection approaches for olive pathogen assessment and sanitation treatments for the regeneration of virus-free material is also given. The chapter also include, in its closing section, an overview about the regulations concerning the propagation and commercialization of olive plants at the European and national levels. A detailed description of the procedures involved in the certification program initiated almost twenty years ago in Italy is also presented.