The products of many Quebec market gardeners had to be left in the fields this year. They show symptoms of a cucumber mosaic virus infection.
Posted at 8:00 a.m.
“Almost 75% of our cucumbers and our small zucchini have been lost,” sighs Vyckie Vaillancourt, from the homonymous farm in Laval. She estimates that she has lost about 40% of her other squash, and almost 50% of her peppers.
“Right now, we’re losing money in those fields,” she says, but the company will pull through thanks to its varied crops and different sources of income. According to Mme Vaillancourt, several of its neighbors also suffered significant losses.
“Symptoms and damage associated with the cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) and potyviruses have been identified”, warns the Quebec Ministry of Agriculture (MAPAQ) in a notice published at the end of the August. “Fields of cucumbers, squash, zucchini, pumpkins and melons are badly affected in the regions of Montérégie, Laval, Lanaudière, Centre-du-Québec and the Capitale-Nationale. »
“Crops of beans, peppers and ground cherries are also affected,” it says.
PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, THE PRESS
The Vaillancourt farm suffered significant losses in its crops, probably due to the cucumber mosaic virus.
Mme Vaillancourt describes the symptoms as spots, first on the leaves of the plants, then on the fruits and vegetables themselves. These become soft and no longer meet the aesthetic standards of buyers, she explains, and there is no cure that can save the affected plants.
Limited risks and known causes
However, the damage varies depending on the growth stage of the plants at the time of infection, specifies Catherine Lessard, director of economics, policy and research at the Association des producteurs maraîchers du Québec (APMQ).
It is a virus that will not necessarily affect the quality of vegetables […] and which has absolutely no impact on human health.
Catherine Lessard, director of economics, policy and research at the APMQ
The QPAM is not yet in a position to assess the extent of the damage, but it has contacted all of its members for this purpose. The MAPAQ indicates that insured producers can file a notice of damage “as soon as possible” with the Financière agricole du Québec (FADQ).
According to Mme Lessard, insects are the source of this outbreak. “Aphids were very numerous in soybean and other crops this year,” she says.
Then we understand that aphids have moved from soybeans to market garden crops and that they have transmitted the virus.
Catherine Lessard, director of economics, policy and research at the APMQ
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) researchers have also been alerted by Quebec producers and are currently carrying out analyzes to determine the exact causes of the losses. According to Mamadou Lamine Fall of AAFC, the cucumber mosaic virus is “the ideal candidate” to explain the damage observed, but nothing has been confirmed by the federal department.