Survey on symptom expression and damage caused by Pepino mosaic virus in commercial tomato production in Belgium

Pepino Mosaic Virus (PepMV) was first reported on greenhouse tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) in the Netherlands and the UK in 1999. Since then PepMV is worldwide established in the tomato industry and has become a significant problem. An extensive survey among Belgian tomato growers was conducted, assessing their experiences with PepMV in the 2005 and 2006 growing season, and their strategies to cope with this relatively new viral threat. Symptom expression and the economical damage caused by PepMV were investigated. An increase in PepMV infected tomato greenhouses was seen during the 2004 and 2005 growing seasons. The infection risk appeared to be significantly higher in dense tomato cultivation areas. It was shown that a PepMV infection early in the growing season does not guarantee fewer symptoms as compared to a late infection. The number of tomato growers that deliberately inoculated their crops early in the growing season as an immunization strategy decreased significantly after 2005, as results were not satisfying