The British Tomato Growers’ Association (TGA) held a workshop last week with the Horticultural Development Company to identify how growers and scientists can work together to combat the new pests and diseases that threaten British tomato supplies.

After 11 outbreaks within tomato production throughout 2009, attention was especially focused on the new danger of the South American tomato moth, Tuta absoluta.

Rob Jacobson of RJ Consultancy told the seminar, held at Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire, that the pest, which made its way from South America to Spain in 2008 and then came into the UK in 2009, could cause disruption of supplies for the tomato industry this year. He is hopeful of the industry receiving funding to research the life cycles of the moth in the UK, as the information available so far is unreliable.

He advised growers to monitor crops for eggs on the stems and leaves of tomato plants.

Philip Pearson of the TGA’s technical committee told freshinfo: “We have set up this seminar because we need to see communication between growers and scientists. There is a massive amount of work going on that growers are not aware of. This will encourage people to pass on experiences. The technical committee is right in the middle of this and direct conversation is important.

“Certain problems are worse than others, such as Tuta absoluta, as we don’t understand it yet and need a solution.’’

Leading scientists and consultants provided the latest information on threats to the UK tomato crop and advice on their prevention and control. The seminar included talks and advice on viroid diseases, pepino mosaic virus and bacterial canker from the likes of the Food and Environment Research Agency and Adas.

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