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This virus can infect tomatoes. (File photo)
photo: Thomas Martinson/Unsplash
The New Zealand Tomato Association has called for a ban on all tomatoes from Australia to stop the virus entering the country and devastating New Zealand’s crops.
Australia has Tomato brown wrinkled fruit virus detected for the first time on two sites in South Australia.
The Department for Primary Industries has suspended some exports of Australian tomatoes but is still allowing imports from Queensland, where the virus is not present, and is testing seeds that may contain the virus.
The New Zealand Tomato Association said the virus spreads very quickly and could cause up to 80% loss of local crops. Barry O’Neil, chairman of the association, told Checkpoints The virus is the most serious the New Zealand tomato industry is likely to deal with.
“This virus has only recently spread across the globe, first detected in the Middle East in 2015 and now found on every continent, including Europe, North and South America, China and Asia. But this is the first time it has been found in Australia,” he said.
“It is extremely contagious and has a very high impact, with up to 100% of crops being infected and yields falling by about 70%.
“This is one of the viruses we are watching very closely because it is spreading globally and our first priority is to stop this virus coming into New Zealand.”
Mr O’Neill said all tomato imports from Australia should be suspended until New Zealand fully understood the situation Australia was facing.
“At this point in time, Australian authorities are still trying to find out the extent of the spread of the virus, and we understand that one of the farms involved is a large propagation operation that ships tomato plants to locations across South Australia where the infection was found, and to other states.”
He said currently, the Ministry for Primary Industries had some restrictions on seed imports.
“Now seeds have to be tested before they come into New Zealand and obviously as a country that relies on imported seed for a large portion of its vegetable production we still have to somehow find ways to import seed and get it in safely and that generally requires testing and that’s what the Ministry for Primary Industries has put in place for Australian seed exports.”
If the virus arrived in New Zealand, tomato growers would close their doors and walk away.
“Growers are already struggling with energy costs and the added impact of this virus. I think it means a lot of our growers are going to go out of business, and that’s something we don’t need or want to happen.
“We need to provide New Zealanders with a better supply of food, especially vegetables.”
He said New Zealand’s exports had been suspended in the past when the country had dealt with issues exporting the virus.
“Once there was a problem, exports from New Zealand were suspended, and that suspension lasted for several years because New Zealand was dealing with another virus, like Pepino mosaic virus.
“We thought the Australians would shut down our exports immediately and wait for MPI to report back to them, and now we understand the Australian authorities are likely to report back to MPI in the coming days.”
O’Neill said New Zealand’s tomato industry was worth $130 million in value.
“We currently have tomatoes imported into New Zealand, particularly during the winter when prices are high, for example last month around 130 tonnes of Australian tomatoes were shipped across the Tasman to New Zealand.”
From September onwards, the supply of New Zealand tomatoes will increase.
“Soon we’ll have warmer weather with longer days so New Zealand production will increase and I expect from September we’ll have more New Zealand tomatoes in our stores and prices will start to come down.”
He said the tomato growers’ priority was to keep the virus out of New Zealand through strict hygiene protocols.
“Any country that has had this virus will not be able to eradicate it because it is so contagious.
“We obviously want all growers to have very strict hygiene practices, so no one is allowed into their houses, grow houses, except for staff, but clean clothes are provided for staff, no personal items like mobile phones etc. are allowed.
“For most countries that have experienced outbreaks of this virus, these practices may have slowed the spread of the virus, but ultimately they have not stopped it.”
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