Olive Oil Under Attack

Even when humans are in lockdown, problems continue to arise with agriculture. It appears that there is a devastating outbreak of disease (olive quick decline syndrome caused by the fungus Xylella fastidiosa) in the orchards of Greece, Italy and Spain, who account for 95% of Europe's olive oil production (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/13/olive-oil-industry-under-increasing-threat-from-olive-leprosy). Many trees have been infected and have had to be destroyed in Italy. This problem can only be solved by generating resistant strains of olive trees but it will take some time to replace the diseased stock. If action is not taken, it is estimated that the loss to producers in the 3 countries will total some 24 billion euros over the next 50 years.