The Agricultural Professions Syndicate has called for importing tomato seed from the Netherlands and France in order to fight a virus which is believed to have attacked the tomato harvest. The syndicate says the seed from Europe is known for its high quality. The syndicate also urged the Ministry of Agriculture to hasten its announcement of results from research being conducted by its Agricultural Research Center, which is searching for a means to fight the whitefly, an insect that infects tomato plants with a viral disease known as the "yellow leaf curl." The virus is thought to have caused an increase in the market price of tomatos, due to its attack on this year's harvest. Syndicate head Abdel Salam Gomaa said the insect reached Egypt via Sudan, and described it as critically dangerous given its widescale effect on breeding new species. Gomaa called for reliance on new hybrid species produced by agricultural research institutions. He said high temperatures have also had a negative impact on the tomato harvest over the last two months. The syndicate's general secretary, Moustafa al-Khatib, invited the Agriculture Ministry to utilize studies carried out by its vegetables research department as a means to fight the insect. Al-Khatib also urged the government to encourage research centers to develop high quality seeds similar to those produced in France and the Netherlands, given the high price offered by these countries for the seed. Al-Khatib predicted that the price of tomatos will drop within the coming days, helped by a decrease in temperatures and a new harvest now on the market. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
