Australian wheat at risk from virus
Wheat streak mosaic virus, which has damaged crops in the US and eastern Europe, was discovered at government research centres in Canberra and Adelaide last month. Spread by wheat curl mite, the virus can reduce crop yields by as much as 90%.
US farmers estimate they suffer a 3-4% loss on average over their crops, the newspaper said.
“But that still translates into €112m a year to the Australian crop,” the report quoted Graeme Hamilton, the government’s chief plant protection officer, as saying.
The origin of the streak mosaic virus infections isn’t known, Agriculture Minister Warren Truss said last week. The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation last month destroyed 40,000 plants when the virus was found in its glasshouses.
