Victoria’s potato industry is facing a crisis. For the first time, the exotic threat of Potato mop-top virus has been found in the state. Dr. Nigel Crump, the general manager of AusSPICA and a potato pathologist, whose team first discovered this alarming discovery, made the case. He pointed out that the seeds were from Tasmania, where nine properties have already confirmed infections.
Tasmanian biosecurity authorities have ruled the mop-top virus as beyond eradication. The substance of this decision has significant implications for the future of the potato industry across Australia. Dr. Crump warned growers not to plant any Tasmania seeds. He highlighted the fact that, to date, no infected seeds have been sowed in Victoria. He said he wasn’t sure if it was possible to find the virus in soil in locations beyond Tasmania.
Things reached crisis proportions when potato seeds held in certified cold storage in Victoria were confirmed as infected with the virus.
Impact on Tasmania’s Potato Growers
The mop-top virus does carry grave risks for Tasmanian potato producers. Nine properties have been already impacted by this. Tasmanian authorities have said the virus is out of control. As a result, they have implemented additional restrictions on importing potato seeds from Tasmania to numerous states, including South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. These bans came into effect in early September, including an outright prohibition on the entry of seed potatoes originating from Tasmania into Victoria.
Dr. Crump noted that the infected seed had traveled before the official quarantine restrictions were enacted across state lines. This recent development has further muddled waters for growers.
“This seed had moved across prior to [when] the official restrictions were in place,” – Nigel Crump
Dr. Crump is working diligently to assess the situation and its ramifications for growers across Australia.
Urgent Call for Support
Katherine Myers from Tourello, near Ballarat, is a Victorian seed potato grower. In her capacity as the vice president of the horticulture group of the Victorian Farmers Federation, she labeled the positive detection of the virus in Victoria as “incredibly frustrating.” She called on the Victorian government to provide compensation to potato producers. These operators are local farmers—the ones who could be most severely affected by the current existential crisis.
Myers made clear the need for immediate action to defend our local farmers.
“We’ve also got to work out owner reimbursement costs with this situation to make sure the growers can dispose of the seed and not have any costs incurred with that,” – Katherine Myers
She called for stronger emergency security measures, to help farmers who have already bought seeds from Tasmania.
“Put the next level of emergency security restrictions in place whereby farmers who have seeds in the state already are able to be reimbursed for the cost of bringing that seed over,” – Katherine Myers
Ensuring Food Security
Seed crops have not shown any mop-top virus which calmed growers when Dr. Crump made the announcement. This would apply to each jurisdiction under his control — South Australia, Victoria, and New South Wales.
“We have not had a detection of mop-top in any of the seed growing on the mainland in South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales that I’m involved with,” – Nigel Crump
He understood how dire things had gotten. For him, as the planting season approached, there was some relief that testing had discovered the virus in time.
“We’re lucky that we got on to this testing and got that detected before growers planted the seed,” – Nigel Crump
We applaud the authorities for their prompt action to monitor and respond to this emerging crisis. At the same time, potato producers need to be on high alert and listen to advice from industry professionals.
