Potato growers in Idaho will now have the opportunity to learn about the presence of damaging fungal pathogens much earlier, thanks to the efforts of research staff at the University of Idaho. The research team, led by James Woodhall, have placed 14 spore samplers in potato fields across the Snake River Valley. Trials have been running for some time, and the first ‘official’ results will begin from this week, just in time for the potato season. “The spore samplers collect air samples over 24 hours for a period of seven days,” Woodhall explained. “They are designed to detect the presence of fungal pathogens, such as potato blight, brown spot, white mold and grey mold. We have been doing trial runs which have been successful, and from this week, we will begin collecting results. The project will run up until the end of the Idaho potato season in September.” Read more
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Potato growers in Idaho will now have the opportunity to learn about the presence of damaging fungal pathogens much earlier, thanks to the efforts of research staff at the University of Idaho. The research team, led by James Woodhall, have placed 14 spore samplers in potato fields across the Snake River Valley. Trials have been running for some time, and the first ‘official’ results will begin from this week, just in time for the potato season. “The spore samplers collect air samples over 24 hours for a period of seven days,” Woodhall explained. “They are designed to detect the presence of fungal pathogens, such as potato blight, brown spot, white mold and grey mold. We have been doing trial runs which have been successful, and from this week, we will begin collecting results. The project will run up until the end of the Idaho potato season in September.” Read more
