A particularly virulent virus which destroys tomato, pepper and chilli plants threatens France. The "Tomato Brown rugose fruit virus" (ToBRFV) appeared in 2014 in the Middle East and is already present in six European countries: The United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany and Greece. The National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety (ANSES) is launching an alert which concerns producers as well as individuals. Philippe Reignault, director of the plant health laboratory at ANSES, presents this virus on Europe 1.
Deformed tomatoes, peppers and peppers
The virus attacks the whole plant: yellow and brown spots appear on the leaves, then on the flowers and up to the roots and when the tomato comes out, it is as if it does not fully ripen.
"On the leaves, there is an alteration in color, mottling, mosaics, and on the fruit the effects are quite spectacular: there will be a reduction in the number of fruits, in their size, an alteration in ripening, ripe parts and others which will remain green, a deformed and rough appearance on the surface ", enumerates Philippe Reignault.
No treatment except uprooting, synonymous with economic losses
Same thing for peppers or peppers. There is no risk for the consumer who would eat it because the virus only attacks plants, but what worries the health authorities is that there is no treatment to eradicate it. The only solution is to uproot the plants, then not to plant anything for a few weeks or months.
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For individuals, directives should be published in the coming days, but for producers the economic stake is enormous: once affected, losses can range from 10 to 100% of the harvest. "The consequences of uprooting necessarily are not neutral, provided that they are much less penalizing than the consequences of the installation of a home or worse, the establishment of the disease and its spread", remind the scientist.
"The level of vigilance must be maximum"
In the meantime, it is advisable to buy only certified seeds and if possible outside contaminated European countries. "In the choice of plants and seeds, the level of alert is quite high. The risk is considered high, so measures were put in place urgently at European level last fall, to ensure that the supplies are secure, "explains Philippe Reignault. "We don't ban imports, but we make sure that they guarantee a good sanitary state of the plants and seeds."
Germany has succeeded in eradicating the virus which is on our doorstep but which has so far been spotted on French soil. "The risk level is high," said the director of the plant health laboratory at ANSES, who said that for "the upcoming tomato growing campaign in France, the level of vigilance must be maximum . "