• During cultivation

As in the case of viral diseases, there is no control method making it possible to control phytoplasmas during cultivation: an infected plant will remain so throughout its life.

We are currently quite helpless with regard to these phytoplasmoses. If the damage is very serious, it may be conceivable to abandon the crop , or even to turn it over. Otherwise, cultivation will normally be carried out to harvest, with affected plants producing little fruit.

Pulling up diseased plants is not of much use because, in many cases, when the first diseased plants are observed, most contaminations have taken place and the insect vectors have often left to visit other plants. On the other hand, at the end of cultivation , care will be taken to eliminate the diseased plants , but especially the weeds present in the plot or on the periphery, these can be made up of sensitive species serving as reservoir plants.

• Next crop

In countries where attacks can occur in the nursery, it will be necessary to protect the plants . Given the length of the latency period of this disease, it will be difficult to observe symptoms on them. Plants produced under shelter are generally not affected much. The best solution to protect them will be to produce them under an agro-textile (non-woven veils, mesh fabrics) which will constitute a more effective mechanical barrier than insecticide treatments * ( e-phy ). The efficiency of the latter is also quite controversial: while a certain number of insecticides are very effective against leafhoppers, very often they do not prevent contamination in the field. The insecticide treatments implemented against other insects sometimes enough to reduce leafhopper populations. It has been found that the placement of aluminized mulch can reduce the number of vectors and the incidence of the disease.

A Careful weeding of nurseries, plots and their surroundings (edges of hedges and paths ...) will be carried out to eliminate the weeds mentioned above. It is advisable to use healthy plants, and to avoid planting tomato crops near other sensitive crops such as eggplant, peppers, potatoes, tobacco, etc.

There is currently no variety of tomato resistant to the phytoplasmas responsible for yellows of the daisy queen, stolbur ... Let us mention two lines in F5 resulting from a cross between tomato and Lycopersicon peruvianum , 'Pr18-4' and 'PR8 -5 '. These would express resistance to pathogens localized in the phloem, such as Tomato yellow top virus , virescence agents and phytoplasmas responsible for big bud in tomatoes.


* Chemical control : As the number of pesticides available for a given use is constantly changing, we advise you to always confirm your choice by consulting the e-phy site of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries which is an online catalog of plant protection products and their uses, fertilizers and growing media approved in France. This also applies to all biological products based on microorganisms or natural substances.