Is the Mosaic Virus Vaccine for plants poisoning the crop yields of cucumbers and zucchini in Japan? No, that's not true: The Ministry of Agriculture has confirmed that the vaccine has no effect on the growth of several types of cucumber seedlings.
The claim initially appeared on TikTok (archived here) on July 27, 2023. The video shows a group of farmers from the Akita Prefecture explaining how the Japanese government is poisoning cucumber and zucchini yields by vaccinating crops against the mosaic virus:
There's a recent Mosaic Virus outbreak surrounding cucumbers and zucchini, and the government is issuing vaccines to combat the spread of the virus. However, this is a problem as the vaccines are attenuating the condition and growth of the crops.
(Translated from Japanese into English by Lead Stories staff)
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Fri Jul 28 15:19:19 2023 UTC)
The Ministry of Agriculture has confirmed in a statement published in 2018 that the Mosaic Virus vaccine does not affect the growth of cucumber and zucchini seedlings. According to the results of testing the vaccine on three types of prominent Mosaic Virus strains, the Ministry of Agriculture has concluded that the vaccine can be safely used, does not stunt the growth of the seedlings being tested, and has local adaptability, therefore allowing framers to use the same harvest methods without compromising their crop yields. The respective prefectural governments of Kyoto and Miyagi have also released their separate investigations on the plant vaccine's safety, concluding its effectiveness and protection against the Mosaic Virus. Kyoto has concluded that the plant vaccine effectively fought the Mosaic Virus and showed that none of the plants (cucumbers and zucchini) were negatively affected in the trials. Miyagi has produced positive results, even offering a graph that the vaccine helps the affected plants grow, stating that those vaccinated against the Mosaic Virus showed more crop yields in the second half of the cultivation period:
(Source: Miyagi Prefecture Official Website Screenshot taken on Fri Jul 28 15:02:23 2023 UTC)
