Tomato virus spreads across South Chungcheong farms, 43.1 hectares confirmed infected

Tomato brown rugose fruit virus infections are spreading across tomato farms in South Chungcheong Province, causing mounting damage to growers in the region.

South Chungcheong Province said Saturday that 65 farms covering 43.1 hectares have received confirmed infection diagnoses, with another 136 farms spanning 99.9 hectares under suspicion.

The tomato brown rugose fruit virus causes brown wrinkling and discoloration on tomato fruit, reducing their marketability. Infected plants have been reported to suffer yield losses of 30 to 70 percent.

The virus can spread through direct contact and contaminated farming equipment, making thorough prevention and management essential.

On Thursday, the provincial government sent farms a circular outlining preventive measures to contain the spread and relayed field observations to a review session of the Rural Development Administration's Plant Disease and Pest Risk Assessment Expert Committee.

The province plans to survey damage across all city and county tomato farms through Nov. 13, and will pursue publicly funded pest control measures afterward.

South Chungcheong Province Governor Park Soo-hyun visited an affected tomato farm in Sedo-myeon, Buyeo-gun on Saturday, receiving a briefing on the outbreak and hearing from farmers about difficulties encountered during control efforts.

Park ordered relevant departments to develop measures to minimize damage and push forward pest control plans to prevent further spread, and directed officials to explore support options to ease the financial burden on affected farms.