According to Remigio Ávila, head of Asaja's Tomato Area in the Region of Murcia, many tomato producers are about to abandon this crop. According to Ávila, many of them have lost at least 40% of their production due to the Tomato Brown Rugose Virus (ToBRFV) alone; "some have even lost 100% of their production," he said.
As a result, Avila stated, some companies have had to close, and there are producers considering abandoning tomatoes to plant other crops, such as cucumber or zucchini. In addition, he said, a company scammed producers by selling them seeds, which were supposed to be of pest-resistant variety, for 300 euros more than what the usual seeds cost. "They became infected with the virus not too long after being planted. They paid 600 euros for 1,000 seeds instead of the 300 euros that normal seeds cost."
Production has also been affected by the heat. Last summer was hard because it was hot during the days and nights, Ávila stated. As a result, the tomato plants suffered excessive stress and were not able to recover overnight. It was hot for fifty days and nights, so the flowers of the plants could not curdle, and a lot of production was lost, stated the president of Asaja in the region, José Martínez. Ávila estimates that 20% to 30% of the production was lost because of the heat.
In total, nearly 70% of the production was lost because of the virus and the heat.
The Ministry of Agriculture expects that the area destined for tomatoes in the Region will decrease this year. According to Ávila, this won't be the end of tomato cultivation in the Region, but there are still a couple of bad years left.
Source: laopiniondemurcia.es