US: Zebra chip control costs potato growers nearly $11 million each year

According to a news report by Capital Press, zebra chip disease control costs farmers in major potato-growing areas in the US – in particular the Northwest – nearly $11 million each year, said Gina Greenway, business and accounting assistant professor at the College of Idaho. Greenway is also working to quantify zebra chip’s effects on potato quality and developing a cost-benefit analysis of different insecticide spray regimes. “Incremental reductions in spray applications can have a significant impact,” she said. Depending on environmental conditions, the variety of tools provided by the research will give growers the ability to make informed decisions when and if an application is necessary, she said. That has the potential to significantly reduce the cost of controlling the psyllids that spread zebra chip, Greenway said. “It’s just such an expensive problem,” she said during the Washington-Oregon Potato Conference in Kennewick, Washington State. More