The discovery of the first strain of potato blight in Europe that is resistant to a carboxylic acid amide fungicide has highlighted the need to use mixes and alternate between different ones in 2023 spray programmes, as Richard Allison reports for Farmers Weekly.
One Scottish expert says it also underlines the need for near-market research such as the Fight Against Blight campaign, which has an uncertain future after the AHDB withdrawing from the potato sector.
On 6 January 2023, researchers from the University of Aarhus in Denmark released the results of a study on the disease. It shows that five geographically diverse isolates sampled from Danish crops in 2022 and belonging to the genotype named EU_43_A1 were completely resistant to mandipropamid.
Last year, it was also detected in the Netherlands and Belgium. And it is expected to spread to the UK. So what does this mean for UK potato growers this season?
Source: Farmers Weekly. Read the full story here
Photo: Credit Gary Naylor via Farmers Weekly
See also: 4 steps to tackle potato cyst nematodes after granular nematicides
