Chestnut Blight
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| Orange stroma visible on the bark of stems and branches |
Chestnut blight, a declared exotic disease under state legislation, has been confirmed on a number of properties in the Ovens Valley in Victoria’s north east.
DPI has been working with affected growers and the chestnut industry, tracing movements to and from suspect properties and surveying other groves and nurseries.
Since September about 150,000 chestnut trees throughout Victoria have been surveyed for signs of infection. Precautionary inspections of 500 oak trees and 1200 eucalypts in and around infected properties have also taken place.
Chestnut growers are being urged to check their trees and report any suspicious symptoms and to follow the recommended personal and farm hygiene practices outlined below to help contain the disease.
Chestnut blight is a declared exotic disease and landholders are legally obliged to notify DPI if they find suspected chestnut blight symptoms - phone 136 186.
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Read about Chestnut Blight in Oak Trees
What farm and personal hygiene is recommended?
All vehicles and orchard equipment can transport the infection, especially in plant debris.
People can also carry the infection, particularly on boots and clothing. Inform people of your biosecurity measures and provide hygiene options such as foot baths and wash facilities to minimise spread via visitors.
Change your clothing before entering other sections of the grove or travelling to another property.
Information about the disease
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| Discolouration on the bark caused by cankers of chestnut blight |
Chestnut blight is a serious disease caused by a fungus (Cryphonectria parasitica) which mostly affects the trunk and branches. It is a declared exotic disease which has the potential to seriously harm the chestnut industry.
Chestnut blight is a bark-inhabiting fungus causing blight on stems and branches.Chestnut blight invades stems and branches of any size and causes cankers that can grow rapidly. These cankers in most cases continue to develop until the stem or branches are girdled and the tree is entirely colonised and eventually dies.
Other symptoms of the pathogen include cracking bark, bark sloughing, necrosis and resin exudation.
Under favourable environmental conditions orange fruiting bodies are produced on the outside of the bark inside the canker margins.
The disease continues to develop and has the potential to spread from cuttings and dead wood for up to one year.
Read the Chestnut Blight Factsheet
How does it spread?
The disease can be spread through budding material or any infected trees or cuttings.
It can also be spread by spores of the fungus. There are two spore types. One is ejected from infected wood and spread by air.
The other spore type is exuded from infected wood onto the surface where it can be spread by rain splash, water, or any object such as clothing, tools or equipment that comes into contact with it.
Cut branches with the disease are also a serious risk of spread as the fungus grows more rapidly on dead wood and can produce spores for a year after cutting.
Can the disease be stopped from spreading?
The best option of containing the disease is to eliminate any sources of infection, including spores of the fungus. This means that infected limbs and tree trunks must be cut off and burnt.
New infections however cannot be seen until they develop fully, so infected tree parts may be missed in an initial pruning. Therefore pruned trees should be monitored for a reappearance of the disease.
Is it safe to receive chestnut propagating material?
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| Cankers and bark splitting on stems and branches |
Infected cuttings are the optimum way to spread the disease. Do not receive any cuttings or trees unless the source material, grove or nursery has been surveyed and is free of the disease.
