On May 13 this year, employees of the state phytosanitary inspection during the monitoring of the phytosanitary condition of foreign goods in the WTO No. 1 "Western" of the Kiev region found the causative agent of the quarantine disease - maize diplodiosis (Stenocarpella maydis (Berkeley) Sutton).

This disease is absent in Ukraine. She was identified in a cargo of corn for popcorn (weight 41.504 tons), sourced from the United States of America.

The following measures were taken: infected corn was retained, phytosanitary measures corresponding to the current legislation of Ukraine will be applied to it.

In order to prevent the recurrence of such incidents in the future, the exporting country - the United States will send documentation on the non-compliance of the cargo with phytosanitary requirements of Ukraine.

For information, maize diplodiosis is a disease caused by imperfect fungi Diplodia zeae Lev. The pathogen damages all aerial parts of the plant. In some cases, the roots are affected. The disease has become widespread in the United States and some other countries of the world, sometimes found in Georgia. For Russia and Ukraine is a quarantine disease.

With the strong development of maize diplodiosis without effective control measures leads to significant yield losses. Infected seeds grow weakly and form rare seedlings. Affected cobs may not be suitable for farm use.