Potato crops have endured long periods of weather conditions highly conducive to blight this season. Reports of blight outbreaks submitted for testing with the Fight Against Blight campaign have now topped 135 incidences across the UK, as Aleksandra Cupriak reports for Farmers Guide.
While growers have responded with robust blight control strategies, attention has now turned to protecting tubers from the inevitable high threat of infective spores from reaching tubers, warns Syngenta technical manager Andy Cunningham.
Mr Cunningham advises: “Keeping up with the programme to maintain blight free foliage is still crucial for building tuber yield, especially in crops where wet and cool conditions delayed planting and early growth.
“Turning now to include products that provide specific strong tuber blight protection will further help assure yields and tuber quality.”
The expert highlights that the new Evagio Forte from Syngenta combines both the outstanding foliar blight control of mandipropamid with the added strength of amisulbrom to enhance performance and target tuber blight protection.
Potato blight lesions typically produce sporangia that can spread long distances on the wind during warmer conditions (17 to 24⁰C), but as conditions cool, below 17⁰C, they are more likely to produce zoospores that physically move shorter distances in surface moisture that infects tubers.
Source: Farmers Guide. Read the full story here
Image: Blight lesions on stems and leaves create infective zoospores as conditions cool. Credit Farmers Guide
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