RDA decides on official control measures for tomato brown rugose fruit virus

[Financial News] The Rural Development Administration (RDA) announced on the 11th that it would implement official control measures at farms where tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV) has been detected.
 Officials and staff from the RDA, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, and the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency (APQA), along with university experts in plant viruses and technology dissemination officers from provincial agricultural technology institutes, attended the Crop Pest Forecasting and Control Deliberation Council chaired by Deputy Administrator Kim Sang-gyeong on the 9th.
 The council decided to implement official control measures at affected farms; dispose of all plants, produce and growing media at confirmed cultivation facilities (by greenhouse section), sealing them before incineration, and disinfect the inside and outside of the facilities; prohibit the removal of plants, work tools and shipping boxes, among other items, and restrict workers’ access; determine whether replanting is possible through tests for residual virus; and provide support for control and replanting costs. Detailed support criteria, including for replanting costs, are expected to be decided this month. 
 Whether replanting is possible will be determined based on the results of tests for residual virus. For soil-grown crops, testing will be conducted four weeks after disinfection is completed; for hydroponically grown crops, it will be conducted after two weeks. However, if the virus is detected at a hydroponic farm, the facility will be disinfected again and retested one week later for a final determination. Affected farms will be monitored for three years.
 Tomato brown rugose fruit virus is a plant virus that mainly affects tomatoes and peppers, including paprika, and is designated and managed as a quarantine pest. To date, 39 tomato-growing farms in South Chungcheong Province, North Jeolla Province, South Gyeongsang Province and Busan have been confirmed to have the virus. Infection can cause leaves to turn yellow, develop light-colored mottling and narrow to a needle-like shape. 
 The RDA plans to inform provincial and municipal agricultural technology institutes and relevant agencies about official control methods, and to establish control task forces at central and local rural development agencies to oversee the implementation of official control measures and check outbreak conditions daily. By the 19th, it will survey tomato-growing farms nationwide to assess the urgent outbreak situation and, in cooperation with the APQA, conduct epidemiological investigations focused on affected farms and related seedling nurseries.
 RDA Deputy Administrator Kim Sang-gyeong said, “We will do our utmost to prevent further spread by implementing official control measures swiftly,” and urged farmers to “follow preventive measures, such as disinfecting work tools, and promptly report any suspected symptoms to their nearest agricultural technology center.”


[email protected] Choi Yong-jun, Agricultural Specialist Reporter