Maltese farmers have raised the alarm over tomatoes infected with the ‘tomato brown rugose fruit virus’ (ToBRFV) that have been carelessly imported into Malta. The infected tomatoes are apparently being sold at Lidl, according to a Facebook post that was recently uploaded by a local farmer, who lamented the ease the tomatoes were brought into Malta with.
“Unfortunately, it’s happened again. Tomatoes being sold at Lidl supermarket, infected with ToBRFV, a virus which destroys the tomato plant,” he wrote. The farmer expressed his concern towards such infections being taken lightly, questioning why certifications aren’t being imposed on what enters our country. “How does this enter Malta without any kind of certification?” he questioned.
Lovin Malta also reached out to Malcolm Borg for a comment on the matter, who is the coordinator of the NGO Għaqda Bdiewa Attivi, expressing anger on behalf of Maltese farmers and explaining the situation further.
“Farmers are extremely angry at this situation. They have been subjected to numerous inspections in the last growing season during which inspectors from the Plant Health directorate took samples from the farmers’ crop which were sent abroad to check if the farmer’s tomato crop had the virus. If the virus was found, their whole crop was uprooted, against a minimal compensation,” he said.
ToBRFV has a quarantine status in Europe. The virus causes a lot of damage in the crop, but is harmless for humans and animals. There is no mention in the message from Malta about how the virus was detected on the tomatoes and if and what tests were done.
Read the complete article at www.lovinmalta.com.
