Tomato Farmer's Virus Alarm, Industry's Concern

0:00On this March 18th in Adelaide, here's what is making headlines. A tomato farmer in northern Adelaide sparked alarm this week by claiming the destructive brown rougos fruit virus has returned to South Australia. Tony Sacka shared his concerns on radio and with news outlets, saying his own swab test suggested the pathogen was present again. This is the same virus that forced three farms to shut down last year. Authorities with primary industries, South Australia inspected Sacka's plans back in December and found no signs of it. They believe his current crop issue stemmed from a much more common plant virus instead. Officials stressed there had been no detections in the state for the past 12 months. The tomato industry hid back hard against Sacka's comments. Pete Group AUSVG warned that false alarms like this threatened their $300 million greenhouse sector and could block interstate trade. Last year's outbreak already cost individual growers hundreds of thousands in lost revenue. South Australia earned its virus-free status in October

1:002025 after more than 200,000 tests in over 14 months of. Strict controls. That declaration lived in major restrictions on the local tomato trade. Sacka stands by his worries and plans to quit growing tomatoes altogether, saying he cannot face another scare. Meanwhile, officials are asking for permission to revisit his property for fresh official testing to put the matter to rest. The Daily News now is grateful to our sponsor for today's episode. Your pillow, your podcast, your moment, made for listening in bed, ice-o-l-i-s-o-l-i-solypilo.com.