News on Potato Defects and Diseases from Northern America

November 28, 2011

New Brunswick protesters rally to bring detained Canadian farmer home from Lebanon

Chanting “Free Henk now” and “Mr. Harper, make the call,” about 100 protesters joined family and friends in a small New Brunswick community Sunday to support ongoing efforts to bring imprisoned potato farmer Henk Tepper home in time for the holidays. ...

November 24, 2011

Canadian researchers looking for new ways to combat wireworm

Researchers on P.E.I. and in Alberta are looking for new ways to kill wireworms before the larvae destroy farmer's crops. Christine Norohna from Agriculture Canada has already done some research using buckwheat and brown mustard as rotation crops. She...

November 10, 2011

Idaho growers eye BASF's new GM potato

More than a decade has passed since Jim Tiede was among the growers caught up in a debacle over the first U.S. genetically modified potato variety. Even today, the American Falls, Idaho, farmer copes with the fallout of planting Monsanto's GM potato N...

November 01, 2011

Zebra chip research gains importance as disease spreads

Zebra chip, a disease that affects potatoes, was recently found in the potato-growing regions of Washington, Oregon and Idaho. The discovery brings to focus the growing need for scientific answers – something that will be discussed at the SCRI Zebra Ch...

November 01, 2011

Zebra Chip Management Webcast Re-launched for Potato Growers in Idaho, Pacific Northwest

In light of the recent confirmation of zebra chip in Idaho, Focus on Potato, a nonprofit potato crop management resource, has made open access its presentation on Zebra Chip Disease of Potatoes by Gary Secor of North Dakota State University. This pres...

October 30, 2011

Common scab of potatoes: Best management practices

'Focus on Potato' of the Plant Management Network has published a new webcast: Common Scab of Potatoes By Thomas A. Zitter Ph.D., Professor, Dept of Plant Pathology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York

October 23, 2011

Additional potato cyst nematode infected field(s) found in Idaho

Two new infestations of a microscopic wormlike pest that attacks potato plants have been discovered in eastern Idaho, state and federal agriculture officials say. Lloyd Knight of the Idaho Department of Agriculture said that both infestations of the p...

October 11, 2011

Zebra Chip Finds Its Way to Idaho’s Potato Fields

A potato pest from points south has reached Idaho, University of Idaho Extension specialists with the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences confirmed this week. It was reported last month in Oregon and Washington.

October 04, 2011

Scientists look for source of Alaska potato blight

Potato late blight, that same disease that caused the Irish Potato Famine, resurfaced in Alaska this fall. This wasn’t the first time the disease, widespread in the Lower 48 and worldwide, came to Alaska. Plant pathologist Jenifer McBeath suspects it...

October 01, 2011

Idaho Potato Cyst Nematode containment area to expand

Potato growers in Eastern Idaho are questioning the effectiveness of the USDA's efforts to contain the pale cyst nematode (Globodera Pallida), a small wormlike pest that endangers Idaho's potato export markets. Several U.S. trading partners, including...

September 12, 2011

Zebra chip disease hits potatoes in Oregon and Washington

Zebra chip, a disease that annually costs Southwest U.S. potato growers millions of dollars in crop loss, has been found in Washington and Oregon. A USDA scientist and an Oregon State University plant pathologist confirmed zebra chip in tuber samples ...

September 01, 2011

Late blight hits potatoes in Alaska

Late blight has shown up in the fields of two potato producers, in Palmer and Delta Junction. Alaska. The University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service is working with major potato producers to help prevent the spread.

August 18, 2011

Potato Rot Nematode Confirmed in Ontario

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has confirmed a detection of potato rot nematode (Ditylenchus destructor) in garlic from a two-acre farm field in the Ottawa region of Ontario. Potato rot nematode (PRN) is a regulated quarantine pest in Cana...

May 10, 2011

New Late Blight Tracking System

A new USDA-funded consortium will provide nationwide tracking of late blight infections of potato and tomato. A web site currently under development will allow users to report where late blight has been found, and to sign up for automatic notifications by email or text message when late blight is found nearby.

April 06, 2011

Major late blight research project funded by the USDA

Given that world potato production is about 320 million tons per year (20 million tons per year in the United States) and world tomato production is about 120 million tons per year (13 million tons per year in the U.S.), late blight is a major problem worldwide even today.

April 03, 2011

New Focus on Potato webcast: Early Blight, a Global Management Issue on potatoes

"Focus on Potato"of the Plant Management Network has published a new webcast:Early Blight: A Global Management Issue on PotatoesBy Walter R. Stevenson, Ph.D.Professor EmeritusUniversity of WisconsinMadison, Wisconsin

March 27, 2011

Gobierno de Canadá apoya la investigación sobre el nematodo del quiste de la papa

No es que los productores de papa del Canadá sufran de la presencia generalizada del nematodo del quiste de la papa (NQP). De hecho, a diferencia de Europa, los brotes en América del Norte son pocos y distantes entre sí. Distribución del nematodo del q...

Potato infested by Potato Cyst Nematodes (PCN)

March 27, 2011

Canadian government supports potato cyst nematode research

It's not that Canadian potato growers suffer from widespread presence of the Potato Cyst Nematodes (PCN). In fact, unlike in Europe, outbreaks in North America are few and far between.