Nicaragua seized and destroyed some 16 tons of plagued potatoes that were illegally introduced to the country, the authorities of Vegetal Sanity and Seed said on Thursday.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry said it has prohibited the introduction to Nicaragua of potato shiploads full of plagues and has applied preventive measures in all bordering checkpoints to guard the national phytosanitary status. The ministry will also visit non-quarantine and quarantine potato farms.

"The bugs, plagues and illness are one of the most important limitations in the harvesting of potatoes," the ministry said Wednesday on its official website.

In 2008, Nicaragua has imported 2.6 million kg of potatoes from Guatemala and Costa Rica for consumption, and some 349,000 kg of potatoes from the US and the Netherlands for sowing.

(Xinhua News Agency August 15, 2008)