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The damage is the result of newly emerging viruses spread by thrips—tiny insects that are almost invisible to the naked eye. Much as mosquitoes can carry malaria, thrips can carry viruses that ravage vegetables, a key component of diet in India.
Under a program funded by the United States Agency for International Development and led by Virginia Tech, scientists are studying ways to minimize damage caused by these thrips-borne viruses, called tospoviruses. It has been estimated that worldwide, tospoviruses cause yield losses of up to $1 billion in a wide range of crops. The Virginia Tech-USAID program could potentially lead to huge benefits, given the significance of vegetables in the Indian diet and economy.
Vegetables Mean Life
Vegetables mean life in India, the second-largest producer after China. The production of healthy vegetables means higher income for the farmer, better health for the consumer, less susceptibility to disease—even HIV-AIDS, and a stronger economy. In the United States, vegetables represent only a small part of the American diet—five percent by some estimates, whereas in India, they represent fully 30 percent of the average Indian’s daily caloric intake. And, small farmers have taken on additional vegetable cultivation because of an increased demand in cities and surrounding areas. For this reason, anything that attacks vegetables is a serious threat to livelihoods and health.
Farmers have typically dealt with thrips by spraying their vegetables with pesticides, although this does not get rid of the pest and in fact causes health problems of its own. In India, extremely toxic pesticides such as DDT are still used by poorer, less-educated farmers. Even with the application of these pesticides, thrips are difficult to eradicate, because they conceal themselves in the flowers and tender parts of young plants. It is there that they sink their stylets, like a syringe, into the plant, sucking out its contents. In the process, they inject the virus into the plant.
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