{"id":36231,"date":"2023-07-06T03:12:19","date_gmt":"2023-07-05T21:42:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=36231"},"modified":"2025-04-21T16:30:21","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T11:00:21","slug":"cmv-and-tomv-viruses-the-two-mosaic-viruses-that-hit-tomato-crop-in-maharashtra-and-karnataka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/cmv-and-tomv-viruses-the-two-mosaic-viruses-that-hit-tomato-crop-in-maharashtra-and-karnataka\/","title":{"rendered":"CMV and ToMV Viruses"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Why in News?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>What are CMV and ToMV?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>How do these Two Viruses Spread?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>How do Viruses Affect the Crop?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>How can the Viruses be Controlled?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Why in News?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Tomato growers in Maharashtra and Karnataka have blamed two different viruses for the loss of yields earlier this year.<\/li>\n<li>Farmers in Maharashtra have said their tomato crop was impacted by attacks of the <strong>cucumber mosaic virus (CMV)<\/strong>, while growers in Karnataka and other South Indian states have blamed the<strong> tomato mosaic virus (ToMV)<\/strong> for crop losses.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><strong>What are CMV and ToMV?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The two plant pathogens have <strong>similar names and cause similar damage<\/strong> to crops, but they <strong>belong to different viral families and spread differently<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>ToMV <\/strong>belongs to the Virgaviridae family and is closely related to the tobacco mosaic virus (TMV). ToMV hosts include <strong>tomato, tobacco, peppers<\/strong>, and certain ornamental plants.<\/li>\n<li><strong>CMV <\/strong>has a much larger host pool that includes cucumber, melon, eggplant, tomato, carrot, lettuce, celery, cucurbits (members of the gourd family, including squash, pumpkin, zucchini, some gourds, etc.), and some ornamentals.<\/li>\n<li>Over the last three years, growers of tomato<strong> have complained of increased infestation<\/strong> with these two viruses, leading to <strong>partial to complete crop losses.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>How do these Two Viruses Spread?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>ToMV <\/strong>spreads <strong>mainly through infected seeds, saplings, agricultural tools<\/strong> and often, through the <strong>hands of nursery workers<\/strong> who have failed to sanitise themselves properly before entering the fields.\n<ul>\n<li>It would require only a few infected saplings for the virus to take over an entire field in a matter of days.<\/li>\n<li><strong>For ToMV<\/strong>, farmers in Maharashtra have blamed seed manufacturers and nurseries.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>CMV <\/strong>is spread by aphids, which are sap-sucking insects. CMV too can spread through human touch, but the chances of that are extremely low.\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Conditions of high temperature followed by intermittent rain<\/strong>, which allow aphids to multiply, are conducive to the spread of CMV.<\/li>\n<li><strong>These conditions were seen in Maharashtra<\/strong> &#8211; the late rabi crop (planted in January-February) faced a sudden bout of rain followed by extreme heat.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><strong>How do Viruses Affect the Crop?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Both viruses can cause almost <strong>100% crop loss <\/strong>unless properly treated on time.<\/li>\n<li>The foliage of plants infected with <strong>ToMV <\/strong>shows<strong> alternating yellowish and dark green areas,<\/strong> which often appear as blisters on the leaves.\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Distortion of leaves and twisting of younger leaves<\/strong> are also symptoms.<\/li>\n<li>The fruit develops necrotic spots, which leads to <strong>overripening<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Younger plants are dwarfed<\/strong> and fruit setting is affected.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>CMV <\/strong>too causes distortion of leaves, but the pattern is different. Often leaves at the top and bottom are distorted while those in the middle remain relatively blemish-free.\n<ul>\n<li><strong>In cucumber<\/strong>, the virus causes a mosaic-like pattern of alternating yellow and green spots.<\/li>\n<li><strong>In tomato<\/strong>, fruit formation is affected and in some cases the fruit is distorted and small.<\/li>\n<li>Overall, CMV causes stunting and lower production.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media\">\n<div data-oembed-url=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=GqTM7bMgX2M\">\n<div><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GqTM7bMgX2M\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>How can the Viruses be Controlled?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Plants cannot be cured of ToMV, but the infection can be controlled with <strong>good agricultural practices.<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>It is very important to ensure that nurseries maintain <strong>biosafety<\/strong> and restrict entry into the premises.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Seed treatment<\/strong> at the nursery is necessary to prevent future spread of the virus.<\/li>\n<li>Farmers who buy trays of saplings <strong>should check before planting<\/strong> and discard any visible infected material.<\/li>\n<li>They should also look out<strong> for signs of infection throughout the cropping cycle<\/strong> and remove infected plants without allowing it to touch healthy ones.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Fields must be cleared of weeds and plant material<\/strong> (ToMV can remain dormant in weeds and plant remains) before fresh planting.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Controlling CMV is more difficult<\/strong>, given the large number of hosts the virus can live on.\n<ul>\n<li>The best way is to stop the aphids, which can be done by <strong>spraying quick acting insecticides or mineral oils<\/strong> on the plants.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Irritating the aphids<\/strong> can spread the virus to other fields.<\/li>\n<li><strong>An eye must be kept on aphid migration<\/strong> so that measures can be taken while planting the crop.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Q1) What is biosafety and why it is important?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>According to the WHO, biosafety is a strategic and integrated approach to analysing and managing relevant risks to human, animal and plant life and health and associated risks for the environment.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Q2) Which is the most famous plant viral disease in India?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Yellow mosaic disease (YMD) caused by begomoviruses transmitted through the insect vector Bemisia tabaci poses a serious threat to the production of legume crops.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Source:<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/explained-economics\/cmv-and-tomv-viruses-tomato-crop-maharashtra-karnataka-8774486\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>CMV and ToMV: The two \u2018mosaic\u2019 viruses that hit tomato crop in Maharashtra and Karnataka<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CMV and ToMV are two plant pathogens have similar names and cause similar damage to crops, but they belong to different viral families and spread differently<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":36232,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-36231","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36231\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}