A virus that affects cucumbers was detected for the first time in Germany. At least 30 Bavarian cucumber farmers are affected.
The harvest of German cucumber farmers is in danger. A pathogen called Cucurbit aphid-borne yellows virus (CABYV) infects cucumbers. The leaves turn yellow and drop the flowers too early. The result: no more fruit can be formed.
Unfortunately, this is not a fake. As laboratory tests show , the virus infected the greenhouses of at least 30 Bavarian cucumber farmers last year and destroyed large parts of the harvest.
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Apparently the virus spreads through aphids, which pick it up when they suck the sap of an infected plant and then pass it on to the next plant.
CABYV was first discovered in France in 1992 and affects not only cucumber but also zucchini and pumpkin plants. As plant virologist Wulf Menzel from the Leibniz Institute DSMZ in Braunschweig, the German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures, to Süddeutsche , samples from Bavaria were examined using two methods and the result was clear.
Virus has most likely been in Germany for a long time
So far, the virus has mainly been found in greenhouses. However, isolated cases of zucchini and pumpkin were also infected outdoors. Unfortunately, the virus cannot be combated directly; instead, action must be taken against the aphids, for example with nets or insecticides. CABYV can also serve as an intermediate host for weeds. The expert assumes that the pathogen has been in Germany for a long time because the virus was found in so many companies at the same time.
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If the winter continues to be so mild, the Institute for Plant Protection at the Bavarian State Agricultural Institute in Freising expects that the pathogen will “make ends meet” and spread again in the summer. However, it is emphasized that such predictions are also unreliable.
Drastic price jumps are not to be feared - even if there are major crop failures in Germany. The cucumber is also globalized and is in most cases imported from abroad. However, affected farmers are suffering from the consequences of the “cucumber virus”.
Related to the topic: Cherries and cucumbers are destroyed because of EU standards?
Further sources: t-online
Article image: Shutterstock / By mike_green
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