RESEARCHERS LOOKING AT NEW VACCING TO CONTROL CURLY TOP VIRUS

摘要

Curly top virus (CTV), one of the most damag-ing tomato diseases in California, has been a problem for growers since at least the mid 1990s. The disease, which is vectored by sugar beet leafhopper, stunts tomato plants and can decrease yields anywherefrom 10 to 70 percent. Up until now, the main defense growers have had against the disease has been a government spray program which knocks back leafhoppers and keeps the disease in check. "But it's likely that the government spray program will eventually be discontinued for economic and environmental reasons," said Bob Gilbertson, a University of California, Davis plant pathologist.