NZPPI and TomatoesNZ Biosecurity guidance for tomato nurseries
NZPPI working closely with TomatoesNZ to develop comprehensive hygiene guidelines specifically tailored for tomato nursery operations. The recent detection of Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus (ToBRFV) in Australia has highlighted the critical importance of robust biosecurity measures throughout the entire tomato supply chain. We know that nurseries occupy a pivotal position in this biosecurity framework.
That’s why, collaborating with TomatoesNZ, NZPPI has developed comprehensive hygiene guidelines specifically tailored for nursery operations. Find the Guidance Document and Hygiene Posters below.
These guidelines represent a proactive approach to biosecurity, establishing clear protocols that nurseries can integrate into their existing management systems. A key component of this initiative includes offering pathogen testing services to customers who request them, providing an additional layer of protection against disease transmission.
We encourage offering ToBRFV testing before seedlings are released to growers, either through plant material testing or water sample analysis. This provides valuable assurance that plants entering greenhouse environments are free from this devastating virus.
On behalf of growers, TomatoesNZ General Manager Dinah Cohen would like to thank everyone in the supply chain including those delivering seedlings for doing your part to protect growers.
Where possible transport drivers shouldn’t leave their vehicles – if you do have to, as a minimum, please use a clean pair of disposable overshoes and gloves. Have a safe place, away from the greenhouse and packing shed to leave deliveries; can a meeting between a rep and a grower happen off-site? To protect the industry, everyone needs to play their part.
