Prickly pear in north at risk from disease

The prickly pear is at risk in the north due to a disease spreading from pests known as cochineals, the Turkish Cypriot media reported on Monday.

The prickly pear cochineal, known scientifically as Dactylopius Opuntiae, was found tearing through the prickly pears (babutsa in Turkish Cypriot) in the fenced off area of Varosha, Famagusta, three years ago, but, according to Kibris could not be sprayed because the Turkish army refused to give its permission.

Since then, the paper said, the pest has spread from Varosha to as far as Kiados, while the Varosha area is now devastated by these insects.

“Some places aren’t even green due to the disease. We could not believe our eyes,” Mehmet Ercilasun, head of the ‘agronomic chamber’, told Kibris. He added that the magnitude of the problem is terrifying.

Ercilasun announced on Monday that the Turkish army had finally granted permission for spraying to take place in Varosha.

The newspaper said that experts’ demands to deal with the insect from early on initially went unheard, and they plan to send a letter now that changes are underway.

The letter, Kibris says, will be sent to the offices of the UN and the ‘presidency’, and seeks ways to resolve the issue.

It also highlights the importance of the prickly pear in Cypriot tradition and its role in a healthy diet as it strengthens the circulatory system, helps prevent certain types of cancer, promotes weight loss, and limits the risks of Alzheimer’s.

The destruction is so great that the ‘municipality’ of Famagusta has also begun to spray outside Varosha, the paper said.

 

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.