Threats against the agricultural sector in Türkiye are increasing. Diseased tomato seeds, which are intended to be introduced from the Far East countries, especially in India and China from January, also reveal the dimension of competition in agriculture. In recent weeks, 110 kilograms of tomato seeds were seized in Antalya Airport and then at Istanbul Airport. The last address of diseased seed smuggling was Thailand this time. Tobamovirus was detected in illegal tomato seeds brought from Thailand under customs control at Istanbul Airport last day. Tobamavirus, which was first seen in Israel for the first time in Israel and affected the production in greenhouses, drew attention to the production of pepper production as well as tomato production and “Food Safety” warning was made.
Spread in greenhouses
Food Bulletin Editor-in-Chief İhsan Yılmaz, who brought to the agenda that 6 times in the customs gates have been detected in the customs gates, was detected at Istanbul Airport. Fortunately, 240 grams of tomato seeds with Thailand were prevented from the entrance to the country. ” Adding that Tobamovirus was first identified in Israel in 2014, Yilmaz said, “This virus causes wrinkled brown or yellow stains in tomato fruits. Tobamovirus can infect 100 percent of plants in a field. The virus spread to tomato greenhouses in Israel within a year“he said.
Serious destruction
Prof. Dr. Ankara University, Department of Food Engineering. Dr. Nevzat Waste, on the other hand, emphasized the importance of food strategy and safety through virus tomatoes, “We know that there are forces who want to put diseased seeds in Türkiye and want to blow agricultural production. If diseased tomato seeds were not detected and planted, there would be very serious destruction in the cultivation areas “ He gave his information.
Strategic priority
Istanbul Topkapı University Department of Gastronomy, Prof. Dr. Aziz Ekşi, in case of sowing virus seeds, will be affected by the production of tomatoes in the country will be adversely affected: “Turkey produces 20 million tons of tomatoes annually. As a production capacity, we are third after China and India. When tomato production decreases, the farmers will be in a difficult situation. Our protection of our lands without virutic contamination should be one of the strategic priorities “ He said.
They were caught one after the other
On the other hand, on January 10 at Istanbul Airport, 16.2 kg of tomato seeds with Chinese origin, TOBRFV virus was determined, while on 23 January 33.5 kg of tomato seeds with Chinese origin, TOBRFV virus was determined. On February 10, Tobrfv was detected in 8 kilos 497 g of tomato seeds from the Istanbul airport, while 6 kilos 901 g of tomato seeds with Chinese origin on the same day were detected to be TOBRFV virus. On February 13, the entrance of Antalya Airport was wanted to be entered in the Chinese origin of 11.5 kg of tomato seeds caught in virus tomato seeds, while on February 15, 110 kg of tomato seeds originating from Indian mosaic virus was understood. Virus seeds were returned to the countries where they were brought.
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