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The virus, known as tomato yellow leaf
curl, devastated crops in the Dominican Republican and in
Mexico, forcing those countries to curtail the growing season to
contain the spread of the disease.
Tomatoes are California's eighth largest
crop. The state supplies the vast majority of the nation's
processed tomatoes -- 95 percent, according to the California
Tomato Growers Association.
In Arkansas, federal statistics show about
1,200 acres of tomatoes were harvested last year.
"Where this virus is present, it will
absolutely kill the tomatoes," said Ross Siragusa, president of
the association, which represents farmers who supply the state's
$2 billion a year processed tomato industry. "It's a very
difficult disease to fight."
California has some natural advantages in
stopping the disease from spreading that other locales lack.
The cold, wet winters in the Central
Valley, where most tomatoes are grown, act as barriers to the
bemisia white flies that carry the disease. The flies are native
to Imperial, Riverside and San Diego counties in the southern
part of the state, but not to any counties in the Central
Valley.
"We're cautiously optimistic that those
conditions are going to be very unfavorable to establishment of
the virus," said Robert Gilbertson, a plant pathologist at the
University of California, Davis.
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 The diseased plants were found in March at a
greenhouse in Brawley, which is near the border with Mexico. Experts
do not know how the virus spread there. It could have been brought
by tomato transplants from Mexico or Texas. Or the virus could have
been carried by bemisia flies.
The virus causes tomato plants to become
stunted and grow abnormally upright. Flowers usually fall off before
the fruit sets. And leaves are small and crumpled with an upward
curl. They also turn yellow.
Experts say growers or backyard gardeners who
detect the disease should destroy the infected plants and look for
the flies. If bemesia flies are present, the disease is likely to be
spreading fast, and the entire field may have to be destroyed and
treated with insecticide. Nearby weeds also can carry the virus and
may have to be sprayed.
In Florida, where the virus has become well
established, Gilbertson said growers have had to make heavy use of
pesticides and have planted tomato varieties that are more resistant
to the disease. But flies may become resistant to the pesticides
over time.
Siragusa said his group has alerted growers,
greenhouses and seed companies that the virus has spread to
California. But, he said, controlling the virus will be especially
hard because so many tomatoes are grown in backyards.
[Text copied
from file received from AP
Digital; article by Laura Kurtzman, Associated Press writer] |
