Northern Ireland: Advice on potato blight following first warning issued

The Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) and the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise, Greenmount Campus have issued this year’s first potato blight warning in Northern Ireland. The warning follows full infection periods recorded between 7 and 12 June at sites across Northern Ireland. There is a high risk of blight infection if there are two or more consecutive 24-hour periods that have 11 hours when the minimum temperature is 10°C or more and the relative humidity is greater than 90%, known as the Smith Period. Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, AFBI scientist Gillian Young said that recent warm and wet weather led to a potato blight warning over one month earlier than last year. (Source: www.farmersjournal.ie)