The Australian tomato industry is still reeling from its biggest biosecurity threat to date, two months after an exotic disease put three South Australian businesses in indefinite quarantine, causing $20m in losses and shutting down some interstate and international trade.
The tomato brown rugose fruit virus is thought to have arrived in seeds imported from Europe in May. It was reported in August when observant staff at the Perfection Fresh Two Wells glasshouse, north of Adelaide, noticed some plants showing signs of infection.
Testing of more than 3,700 samples showed the virus had been contained to that glasshouse – one of Australia's biggest – and two other nearby farms: Gawler River Tomatoes and the SA Tomato Nursery. All three were placed in quarantine and hundreds of workers were stood down, and more than 1m plants were being destroyed.
It was initially thought the shutdown would last a few weeks, but Nick Secomb, director of plant and invasive species biosecurity at the Department of Primary Industries and Regions (PIRSA), says it will likely continue for several more months.
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