Total control failure in potato blight management product, mandipropamid (Revus) was confirmed in Europe last December, and this will mean that British growers should be planning an anti-resistance strategy for this coming season, as Ken Fletcher, editor of The Northern Farmer reports here.
That’s according to Geoff Hailstone, potato lead at UPL UK, who pointed out that while the resistant blight genotype (EU43) is yet to be identified on British shores, UK farmers must act to protect potato crops. “Blight strains that start in Europe inevitably make their way over here. So, farmers need to plan their blight control programmes carefully,” he argued.
Aarhus University, in Denmark and leading agri-chemical companies had confirmed the resistance in a joint study. “It is essential that all growers, regardless of varietal choice and fungicide programme, plan an anti-resistance strategy against potato blight,” pointed out a spokesperson for the university.
While a concern, blight resistance to fungicidal products is not a novel situation for UK growers and lessons of the past have been learnt, added Mr Hailstone.
Source: The Northern Farmer. Read the full story here
Photo: Credit and courtesy The Scottish Farmer via The Northern Farmer
