he Agriculture Ministry has destroyed roughly 1.5 tons of Chinese cabbage seeds from South Korea that were found to contain two types of soil-borne bacteria harmful to plants: Pseudomonas viridiflava and Pseudomonas cichorii.
Musyaffak Fauzi, the head of the Surabaya Agriculture Quarantine Office in East Java, said Pseudomonas viridiflava had yet to be found in Indonesia and the plants that carried it could not be cured through treatment. Therefore, he said, the seeds had to be exterminated.
"This is a serious threat to Indonesian agriculture, particularly horticultural crops," Musyaffak said after overseeing the destruction of Rp 1.2 billion (US$82,050) worth of cabbage seeds on Thursday.
Read also: South Korean contaminated enoki mushrooms no longer circulating in markets: Ministry
The seeds were burned at PT. Koreana Seed Indonesia in Kediri, East Java.
The more than 500 Agriculture Quarantine Offices in Indonesia have been intensifying efforts to control imported seeds and produce following an increase in imports, the ministry said in a statement.
"The agricultural products have to be healthy, safe and suitable for consumption," Agriculture Quarantine Agency head Ali Jamil said separately. (vny)
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