Seychelles imposes restrictions on the movement of tomatoes

The National Biosecurity Agency has imposed restrictions on the movement of tomatoes between the Seychelles’ three main islands after a caterpillar known as the tomato leaf miner or tuta absoluta was found on these islands.

The restrictions are part of the Agency’s emergency strategy to contain and eventually eradicate the pest from the country’s shores. The Agency discovered the tomato leaf miner on Praslin and La Digue, the second and third most populated islands, and then more recently on Mahe, the main island. They were also alerted that certain farms at Amitie Praslin had discovered the presence of a pest.

“We conducted an emergency visit and we identified the pest as the tomato leaf miner. Following this we implemented an emergency response plan in our attempt to contain the spread of the pest and also if possible eradicate it,” said the authority.

Applied measures

“Some of the measures include a restriction of movement of tomatoes between the islands, on-farm measures such as spraying with approved pesticides, mass trapping, monitoring and surveillance with traps and advising farmers on the best practices,” explained the agency.

The tomato leaf miner, which originated from South America, is a highly destructive insect that can ruin tomato and other crop plants of the nightshade family, including potato, eggplant, pepino, pepper and tobacco. The insect can spread rapidly as it has a high reproduction rate and can lay up to 250 eggs.

“We usually have our own leaf miner but this tuta absoluta is much more aggressive, so when it is found in the tomato crops it is very destructive,” said Principal Secretary for Agriculture, Kevin Nancy.