ASH DIEBACK DISEASE
Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress her Department has made in identifying ash trees with resistance to ash dieback disease; and if she will make a statement.
Dan Rogerson, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for water, forestry, rural affairs and resource management: Research is being undertaken to produce genetic maps of the pathogen and of ash trees to allow identification and breeding of resistant or tolerant ash trees and, where appropriate, improve detection techniques.
Ash saplings have been planted in areas with a high risk of infection to identify trees with resistance or tolerance to the disease. Ash seeds have been collected from a number of locations across the UK to be used in future screening and breeding programmes.
Standardised techniques for producing infection in the laboratory are being developed. This will allow disease development to be assessed under controlled conditions. This will be essential for identifying genetic markers for host resistance for use in breeding programmes.