Features Fruit Production
Virus devastates strawberry fields in Quebec

July 21, 2014, Montreal, QC — These days, Martin Marineau is out of bed and working the fields just after sunrise. It’s the height of strawberry picking season in Quebec and the longtime farmer knows he only has a small window of time to get his harvest in crates and ready for customers.

But like so many of the province’s 700 strawberry farmers, Marineau’s crop has been devastated by the mild yellow edge virus and the strawberry mottle virus. Experts say the viruses likely originate from Quebec plant nurseries that sold the infected seedlings to farmers across the province. READ MORE