The new tomato virus reaches France

Audio 01:59

By: Claire Fages Follow

The “rough and brown tomato virus” has just appeared in western France. Very contagious, it makes tomatoes unsellable.

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The new tomato virus has been detected on two farms in Finistère, in north-west France. Very important greenhouse plantations, said the president of Légumes de France. Problem, this virus covers tomatoes with yellow or brown spots and roughness. The fruits are also very often deformed and of uneven ripening. Impossible to market.

First virus that affects hybrid tomatoes

The origin of this virus is unknown. Scientists are content with hypotheses: it comes from wild plants or from the mutation of another virus. It is in any case the first virus which hybrid tomatoes, which have dominated production since the 1970s, cannot resist.

This “rough brown tomato virus” appeared six years ago in Israel, and in Jordan the following year. After four years of respite, it rages again in 2018 in Germany, the United States, Mexico, where it also contaminates peppers and peppers. Before expanding last year to Turkey, Italy, the United Kingdom, Palestine and all the way to China. The measures taken by the European Union last year, such as the requirement for a phytosanitary certificate for plants, were not enough. The virus reached France, probably via the Netherlands, the gateway to many agricultural products.

Tear everything off and burn everything

As for the fight against this tomato virus, it is difficult. There is no chemical, genetic or bio-control means possible. However, this virus can survive for years and it is transmitted by simple contact with a plant, a seed, a fruit, but also by hands, clothes, tools, insects and even irrigation water. The only solution when it appears in a tomato plantation: tearing everything off and burning everything, covering oneself with combinations, which themselves will be incinerated, this is what is going on in the two Breton farms affected.

Germany has managed to stop the spread of the virus in this way. In France, the world's fifth largest producer of tomatoes (around 700,000 tonnes in 2018), the favorite vegetable of the French, the authorities are preparing a monitoring plan and technical sheets for all stakeholders in the sector, it should be ready at the start of the week next.

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