Morocco’s tomato growers discover solution to PepMV

On April 20, Biobetter Maroc organised a well-attended seminar in Agadir to present PMV®-01 Bejo Veggie Corner, a vaccine against Pepino mosaic virus (PepMV).

With more than 120 participants, local growers and sector representatives demonstrated their strong interest in a solution against this virus that is wreaking havoc on their tomato crops.

In a press release, Biobest said crop losses are particularly high during winter, when success in export markets is crucial.

Biobetter Maroc, the Biobest Group company serving the Moroccan market with pollination and biocontrol solutions, entered into an agreement with DCM (known for its natural and organic-based fertilizers and other plant nutrition products) in 2014 to distribute its PMV®-01 vaccine.

Backed by DCM’s strong registration file and additional local trials, the product was officially registered in Morocco in 2015.

During the previous tomato season the product and its application strategy were commercially validated on 400 ha of commercial crop.

At the seminar, Dr. Inge Hanssen from DCM explained the scientific background to the Pepino mosaic virus and the mechanisms behind plant vaccination.

She also explained the typical symptoms and impact on the crop.

”A sampling program conducted in collaboration with Biobetter Maroc, demonstrated widespread presence of aggressive PepMV isolates. All isolates sampled in Morocco belonged to the Chilean strain (CH2),” Hanssen said.

The development of the PMV®-01 vaccine, field results in various countries and full details of the vaccination strategy, applied under Moroccan crop conditions were also presented, by Thijs De Langhe from DCM and Julien Mourrut-Salesse from Biobest, respectively

Biobetter Maroc general manager Karim Jerate said the tomato industry is an important sector of the Moroccan economy.

“We’re pleased to provide a solution that will give our local growers a competitive edge to sustain growth in export markets. The field experience obtained during this tomato season was totally convincing.

“The product nicely complements our existing product range in pollination and biological control. Our team is fully prepared to support the growers that wish to apply our solutions.

“With PMV®-01 we’re not just selling a product but we’re also supporting the implementation of a carefully designed vaccination strategy. We’re pleased with the many questions and interest received during the seminar and will now be dedicating ourselves to providing each grower with full details,” Jerate said.

See the video presentation illustrating the PMV®-01 vaccination strategy which was shown at the seminar: