Emerging geminivirus problems: A serious threat to crop production

Summary Geminiviruses form the second largest family of plant viruses, the Geminiviridae , represented by four genera: Mastrevirus, Curtovirus, Topocuvirus and Begomovirus . During the last two decades these viruses have emerged as devastating pathogens, particularly in the tropics and subtropics, causing huge economic losses and threatening crop production. Epidemics caused by re‐emerging and newly emerging geminiviruses are becoming frequent even in regions that were earlier free from these viruses. Compared to mastreviruses and curtoviruses, begomoviruses have emerged as more serious problems in a variety of crops, for example, cassava, cotton, grain legumes and vegetables. Major contributory factors for…