News on Potato Defects and Diseases from the United States

Developing a chemical attractant to monitor and manage the potato psyllid is the goal of a new cooperative agreement signed in March between the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and the University of California (UC) at Riverside.

Potatoes are America’s number one vegetable crop. Per capita, Americans consume about 130 pounds annually.

Many readers are no doubt aware of last summer's late-blight infestation, in which a fungus, Phytophthora infestans, decimated local tomato and potato plantings. The fungus overwinters in southeastern United States but does not generally overwinter in ...

Since 2000, a mystery disease has struck some potato fields in Texas, Arizona, California, Nevada, and other western states, reducing tuber yields and quality.

The impact of late blight to potato growers in Michigan is clear and we estimate that many growers with crops going in to long-term storage will spend up to $350/A in crop protection products alone (not including application costs). Even such intense c...

Farmers in southern and central Maine have already reported cases of late blight in potato and tomato crops. Now the disease has spread to northern Maine.

Despite their microscopic size, Columbia root-knot nematodes (CRN) have potential to inflict huge losses—about $40 million annually—by tunneling into potatoes to feed.

Maine potato growers are thriving thanks to a late blight spraying advice offered by the University of Maine's cooperative extension program.

The humble spud has few natural enemies (beside humans), but common scab disease is one that threatens the whole potato industry. Common scab is one of the most prevalent and costly diseases for the potato industry worldwide. The vegetable research t...