2021-04-13 05:35:26 GMT2021-04-13 13:35:26(Beijing Time) Xinhua English
CANBERRA, April 13 (Xinhua) -- The potentially devastating citrus canker plant disease has officially been eradicated from Australia.
Citrus canker damages citrus fruit it infects and causes unripe fruit to fall to the ground.
The disease was found in Darwin, capital of the Northern Territory (NT), in April 2018, 14 years after Australia's last outbreak in Queensland where it destroyed 500,000 citrus trees.
It has now been eradicated after more than 6,000 plants were destroyed and a national ban was implemented on NT citrus products.
Anne Walters, the NT's Chief Plant Health Officer, said eradication of the disease was a big win for the industry.