Survey Aims to Quantify Catastrophic Loss from Tomato Virus
January 26, 2022 
Photos courtesy of Luria et al., 2017
Horticulturists at iUNU are launching an industry survey for growers in the North American greenhouse tomato industry to define and quantify catastrophic risk related to the tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV).
As ToBRFV continues to have serious and widespread impact on the tomato industry, it is still unclear exactly what this impact looks like. iUNU’s team of horticulturists are working diligently to combine quantitative, qualitative, and third-party research to focus on solutions and industry needs.
“It is critical that our industry comes together to focus on ToBRFV management,” says Erika Verrier, iUNU Horticulturalist specializing in CEA vine crops. “Our goal with this report is to help quantify the risk in North America, establish universally practiced controls, and identify opportunities for mitigation at all phases of tomato production. We look forward to sharing the grower experiences and current challenges with this virus in the hope that we can work collectively to mitigate them moving forward.”
The survey is the fourth of its kind from iUNU. After recently acquiring Artemis, iUNU will continue to release its annual State of Indoor Farming surveys and reports, and will expand to include more technical reports, like this report on ToBRFV.
Large tomato operators based in North America are invited to participate in the survey here. The survey takes approximately five minutes to complete. Growers who complete the survey will be entered into a contest with a chance to win a free ToBRFV biosecurity audit, including a site visit.
The survey will remain open until Feb. 15, 2022 and iUNU expects to launch the ToBRFV report shortly following. You can download past reports from iUNU here.
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