Protection methods

- During cultivation

There is no curative control method that can effectively control the beet ( pseudo-yellows virus Beet pseudo-yellows virus , BPYV) during cultivation. Usually, an infected plant will remain infected for the rest of its life.

Given the length of the incubation period of the disease (2 to 4 weeks), it is rare to observe diseased plants in the nursery . If this is the case, we advise you to eliminate them quickly .

In some cases, insecticide treatments are essential to control whitefly populations on lettuce. Even if they are not very effective, they limit the development of this virus.

Diseased lettuce will be removed quickly after harvest and not left on site as can be seen in many greenhouses. This will prevent the vector whiteflies from multiplying there and posing a danger to nurseries or future crops.

Under shelter, we can also create a crawl space of a few weeks .


- Next crop

In countries where contamination is very early, it will be necessary to protect nurseries and young plants . For this, we can use agrotextiles (non-woven sails, mesh fabrics, etc.). The mechanical barrier thus created will delay contamination. The very first diseased plants should also be destroyed.

A weeding careful nurseries, plots and their surroundings (edges of hedges and paths ...) will be carried out to eliminate sources of plant viruses and / or vectors. The establishment of a nursery or a salad crop near the crops sensitive to BPYV mentioned above, especially cucumber, should be prohibited.
If one cannot do otherwise, the uprooting of cucumbers will be preceded by an insecticide treatment before setting up a nursery or a lettuce crop. In addition, the greenhouse openings will be made "insect-proof" and preventive insecticide treatments will be carried out.

There are currently no sources of resistance to BPYV in lettuce .


NB: Controlling insect populations on a crop implies, depending on the situation, the use of insecticides. As the number of insecticides available for a given use is constantly changing, we advise you to consult the e-phy site of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries which is an online catalog of plant protection products and their uses, materials. fertilizers and growing media approved in France. This also applies to all biological products based on microorganisms or natural substances.