Seminar in Pinheiros (ES) addresses papaya viruses

Embrapa Cassava and Fruticulture and the Association of Papaya Producers of Brazil (APM) will hold the Papaya Viruses Seminar next Thursday (28), in Pinheiros (ES), with the support of several partners. With free registration, the event targets producers, technicians and students in the region.

Viruses, especially the papaya ringspot virus (known in Brazil as papaya mosaic), the meleira virus, and the lethal yellow virus are the biggest obstacles to the implementation of papaya cultivation throughout the country due to the difficulty in controlling them and the need for migration that they impose on producers. According to Embrapa researcher Dimmy Barbosa, the importance of the event is “to highlight that viruses cannot be controlled and that preventive practices, especially the elimination of diseased plants, are necessary to control viral diseases”.

The lectures will be on the management of vectors that transmit papaya viruses, given by Renan Queiroz (Capixaba Institute of Research, Technical Assistance and Rural Extension - Incaper); main viruses (ring spot and honey), taught by Paulo Meissner and José Aires Ventura (Embrapa Cassava and Fruticulture and Incaper); legislation and actions of agricultural defense bodies, which will be presented by Flávia Lopes (Bahia Agricultural Defense Agency - Adab), Mateus Eckel (Institute of Agricultural and Forestry Defense of Espírito Santo - Idaf) and Max Welber (Institute of Defense and Agricultural Inspection of Rio Grande do Norte - Idiarn).

The demand for the event came from APM, whose directors visited Embrapa Mandioca e Fruticultura last August and explained the different interests of the production chain. “Among the main problems they mentioned was the issue of viruses”, recalls Dimmy.

The municipality of Pinheiros was chosen to host the event because it belongs to one of the main papaya producing regions, the north of Espírito Santo, close to the south of Bahia and are the main production centers that are having a lot of problems with viruses.

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