Chile: Agricultural researchers seek to provide solutions to viruses that attack the region's main crops

A team of researchers from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile is carrying out two projects -FIC and FIA- investigating the emerging viral diseases that four years ago began to affect the production of bell peppers, tomatoes, chili peppers and other solanaceae in the Arinca and Parinacota region. . In recent years, around 80% of Solanaceae production has been affected by the presence of a virus described by experts as "emerging", which causes black spots, rings, color changes and necrosis, lowering quality. of the main vegetables produced in the region, thereby affecting its market value. This is why a team of researchers from the UC Faculty of Agronomy and Forest Engineering, led by Marlene Rosales, Phytopathology PhD, and Claudia Rojas, Agricultural Sciences PhD, are executing two projects in the area, They hope to contribute to small and medium-sized farmers in the region to design adaptation and management strategies for these diseases. This is the project promoted by ...