Farmers have expressed grave concerns about an imported virus spreading in Malta which threatens to decimate the all-important tomato sector.
Ruben Montebello, a full-time farmer for the past decade who left the tourism industry to work in agriculture, lost five greenhouses’ worth of tomatoes due to contamination from ToBRFV (tomato brown rugose fruit virus).
The farmers’ association Għaqda Bdiewa Attivi appealed to authorities to do their utmost to try to contain the virus to limit its “social damage”.
Although the virus is a serious threat to tomatoes and other plants in the same family, there is no evidence that it impacts human beings in any way.
The youth in agriculture foundation (MaYa foundation) argued that given the expected catering boom this summer, “growers cannot afford to miss this boat” after a year of declining sales due to the pandemic.
Montebello explained how his tomato crops had not even started developing symptoms before he realised they were contaminated and needed to be destroyed.
“After the plant health directorate took samples from our crops towards the end of April and the result was confirmed earlier this month, we had to stop production immediately,” Montebello said.
The plant health directorate must eradicate all sources of contamination to avoid the spread of the virus from plant to plant due to its ability to spread very quickly.
“While this is obviously very hard on us, it was our responsibility to do so,” he added.
Montebello believes the costs imposed by the losses incurred so far have already outweighed the overall negative downturn caused by COVID-19 over the past year.
Without government assistance or compensation, it will not be possible to recover, he warned.
“We have too many challenges in front of us, and even if we push very hard, we won’t make it through without some form of help to soften the blow,” Montebello stated.
“Besides this problem, we also have to deal with limitations such as our lack of size and issues with water supply,” he added.
The farming community does not yet know the full scale of the problem as many tests are still ongoing.
“We happened to know so soon because our operation happened to be one of the first tested,” Montebello said.
Minimal intervention, better border protection
Malcolm Borg, coordinator of Għaqda Bdiewa Attivi, said containment measures should be socially sensitive, especially for farmers who completely depend on tomatoes.
“If we can, for example, eliminate 1,000 plants rather than 3,000 in one go, it would help minimise the initial impact,” he added.
Borg also appealed to authorities to clarify information about how and when farmers will be compensated for their losses.
“In this way, at least farmers who are notified of the need to uproot significant amounts of crops will know they will also be entitled to some measure of compensation to stifle the blow.”
Jeanette Borg from MaYa foundation pointed out that tomatoes are not just important for revenue generators and individual growers but also for processors, in reference to producers of tomato paste (kunserva).
MaYa foundation’s coordinator also spoke of a need for higher levels of border protection, saying that “the damage has already been done” in spite of the official ban.
“Numerous other pests have been introduced to the islands over the past decades.
Economic repercussions can be significant for the growers, who are the highest risk-takers, but also for consumers who demand the best local vegetables at cheap prices. If the supply decreases, it is logical that prices will go up,” Borg added.
She explained that although the work carried out by the plant health directorate is commendable for the implementation of regulations at a local level, many growers believe Malta is lacking sufficient protection against the introduction of plant pests.