Georgia tobacco growers hit by destructive virus

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Posted 8:58AM on Monday, May 20, 2002

ENIGMA, Ga. - Tim McMillan strides across his tobacco field, stopping to point at a sickly plant marred by brownish splotches. The leaves are curled and their network of veins -- the ductwork that carries life-sustaining nutrients -- are brown instead of green. "This plant has bit the dust," McMillan said. "It's sick. It's just like a human with a bad virus." McMillan and other Southern flue-cured tobacco growers have been hit by the worst outbreak of tomato spotted wilt virus in years. The disease is likely to reduce growers' yields and the quality of their tobacco in a year when prices and demand are already low. Scientists don't know why the disease is worse some years and not others, and there is no cure. "It's a helpless feeling because there's absolutely nothing we can do," McMillan said. "One field is eaten up, another is not. One farm is a disaster, another is not." Tomato spotted wilt virus is spread by tiny insects known as thrips. They become infected by feeding on infected plants -- even weeds around fields. Then they pass it on to tobacco plants when they scrape the leaves to feed on the juices. Although infected plants can't be cured, some chemicals show promise in preventing plants from developing the full-blown disease. The virus also attacks other important Southern crops, such as cotton, peanuts and tomatoes. Spotted wilt damage could easily run into the millions of dollars in Georgia tobacco alone this summer, according to J. Michael Moore, a tobacco specialist with the University of Georgia Extension Service. Moore said his counterparts in North and South Carolina also are reporting a higher incidence of the disease. "Right now, 15 percent of the plants throughout the state are infected and are either dying or dead as a result of this disease," said Moore, who has traveled Georgia examining infected fields. "This is a progressive disease. We expect to see larger numbers of plants continue to die." Moore said he has seen fields where 30 to 67 percent of the plants were infected. Because of the disease and the continuing effects of the drought, 14 percent of Georgia's tobacco crop is currently rated poor or very poor, and another 42 percent only fair. Thirty-nine percent is good. Some farmers have had to plow their crop under and replant, but McMillan said his losses have not reached that magnitude. He and his brother grow 50 acres of tobacco, plus cotton, corn and peanuts. "I'm not starting over," he said. "The majority of my crop is still too good and too far along to back up now." The infection rate at their farm ranges from 20 to 50 percent, depending on the field, McMillan said. "We started with an excellent crop, then we started seeing tomato spotted wilt," he said. "I probably won't make my pounds (production limit), but it's not devastating. Really, there's nothing I can do about it."