Michigan Potato Diseases - News

New publications available on potato diseases

noreply@blogger.com (Phill Wharton) — Thu, 08 May 2008 17:57:00 +0000

I have updated our research and extension publications for the latter part of 2007 and the first quarter of 2008. Most of the publications are available as .pdf files for download.

New weather station added to MAWN

noreply@blogger.com (Phill Wharton) — Thu, 08 May 2008 17:50:00 +0000

A new weather station in Coldwater has been added to the MAWN. This station is now available on the Late Blight Resistance Management Network for those of you who live in the Coldwater area.

Physiologically Induced Heat Stress Posing Problems in Seed Potatoes.

noreply@blogger.com (Phill Wharton) — Wed, 07 May 2008 11:00:00 +0000

A heat-induced problem affecting seed tubers produced in MI during 2007 may have manifested itself in reduced seed quality for 2008. Tests conducted at MSU have shown that seed tubers are failing to completely suberize after cutting (Fig. 1). This has been seen mainly in the variety Snowden although may be present in other varieties. For more information on this problem and recommendations on how to manage seed from MI in 2008 please refer to the Disease Update: Physiologically Induced Heat Stress Posing Problems in Seed Potatoes.

Fusarium Dry Rot Posing Problems in Potatoes

noreply@blogger.com (Phill Wharton) — Wed, 07 May 2008 03:15:00 +0000

Fusarium dry rot is one of the most important diseases of potato, affecting tubers in storage and seed pieces after planting. Fusarium dry rot of seed tubers can reduce crop establishment by killing developing potato sprouts. This year there have been reports of Snowden seed lots affected although other seed lots may also be affected. For more information on how to combat this problem please refer to the Disease Update: Fusarium dry rot Posing Problems in Potatoes.

Late Blight Risk Monitoring 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Phill Wharton) — Fri, 02 May 2008 19:52:00 +0000

The Late Blight Risk Monitoring system is now up and running for the 2008 growing season. Six new locations have been added to the network since last year. These are Arlene, Berrien Springs, East Lansing/MSUHTRC, Hickory Corners/MSUKBS, Keeler/South Hartford and Romeo.

MSU Montcalm Research Farm Field Day 26 July, 2007

noreply@blogger.com (Phill Wharton) — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 20:30:00 +0000

The MSU Montcalm Research Farm Field Day will be held this coming Thursday (July 26). Proceedings will start at 11am with the MPIC Research Committee meeting (11am - 2.30pm) in the Douglas Township hall, Entrican. All growers are invited. Lunch will be served at 11.30am. Potato Wagon tours of the research plots will start at 3pm. A catered dinner will be served between 5.30 -6.30pm. For further information contact Chris Long (5 17) 355-0271 Ext.193; email: longch@msu.edu. The new potato diseases scouting guide and disease bulletins will also be available for purchase. The bulletins cost $1 each and the scouting guide will cost $10.

Pocket scouting guide for potato diseases available

noreply@blogger.com (Phill Wharton) — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 23:33:00 +0000

The new potato diseases scouting guide "A Pocket Guide to Disease Scouting in Michigan Potatoes" is now available for purchase from the MSU Extension Bulletin office. This is a comprehensive pocket reference text for use in disease scouting in Michigan potato fields. It provides information on the disease cycles and biology of common potato pathogens and on management options for their control. For more information call 517-353-6740.

Late Blight Meeting, June 13, 2007

noreply@blogger.com (Phill Wharton) — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 23:44:00 +0000

There will be a meeting on late blight held on Wednesday June 13 at the St. Joseph County Intermediate School District Building in Centerville (62445 Shimmel Rd). Click here to get directions. The meeting starts at 10 am and a free lunch, sponsored by DuPont, will be served at 12pm.

Michigan Potato Diseases Series Updated

noreply@blogger.com (Phill Wharton) — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 23:26:00 +0000

Seven new high resolution potato diseases extension bulletins are now available for purchase from the MSU Extension Bulletin Office for $1.50 each. For more information call 517-353-6740. You can also download these bulletins from the Extension publications page as .pdf files.

New bulletin on Common Scab of Potato available

noreply@blogger.com (Phill Wharton) — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 05:59:00 +0000

The new webpage on Common scab of potato is now online. The webpage covers the symptoms of the disease, disease cycle and current control options available in Michigan. A printed version of the webpage will be available from the MSU Extension Bulletin Office in the new year, and when that is published a .pdf version will be made available online. To receive a .pdf version before then contact webmaster@potatodiseases.org and I will send you one via e-mail.

New Dry Rot webpage online

noreply@blogger.com (Phill Wharton) — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 20:25:00 +0000

The new webpage on Dry rot of potato is now online. The webpage covers the symptoms of the disease, disease cycle and current control options available in Michigan. A printed version of the webpage will be available from the MSU Extension Bulletin Office later in the year, and when that is published a .pdf version will be made available online. To receive a .pdf version before then contact webmaster@potatodiseases.org and I will send you one via e-mail.

Two new publications available for download

noreply@blogger.com (Phill Wharton) — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 02:02:00 +0000

Two new publications have just been posted to our publications page and are available for immediate download. The first publication is on Phytophthora infestans, the causal agent of late blight, and the second is a First Report on a new disease of potatoes called Fusarium sprout rot, which is caused by the Fusarium dry rot pathogen Fusarium sambucinum.

New publication on resistance to late blight available

noreply@blogger.com (Phill Wharton) — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 16:13:00 +0000

A new publication on the effect of photoperiod and temperature on resistance to Phytophthora infestans is now available for download in .pdf format on the publications page. The abstract is summarized below:

"Deposition of phenolic compounds before and after inoculation with Phytophthora infestans was evaluated in two Mexican cultivars (Malinche and Tollocan) with major unknown R genes for resistance to potato late blight, two cultivars (CIP1 and CIP2) without R genes from the International Potato Center (CIP) and the susceptible cultivar Atlantic. Before inoculation, plants were grown in growth chambers at two temperatures (16 or 24 C) and two photoperiods (PPD 12 or 16 h day length). Forty-eight hours after inoculation, the number of penetrations was recorded and depositions of phenolic compounds were classified according to detection and location in (a) the anticlinal cell wall, (b) the whole cell, (c) the stomatal cells, and (d) without detectable depositions of phenolic compounds. The concentration of phenolic compounds in the epidermal cells was slightly increased at 16 C and 16 h PPD and penetration frequency was lower at 16 C (12 h PPD). Concentration of phenolic compounds was not correlated with penetration frequency, but was correlated with the resistance level of the different potato cultivars. Atlantic had the highest number of penetrations followed by Tollocan, CIP1, CIP2, and Malinche. The cytological observations indicated that four types of deposition of phenolic compounds occurred in all five potato cultivars irrespective of their type and level of resistance. These results suggest that deposition of phenolic compounds on epidermal cells is a general resistance mechanism in potato leaves that does not have a specific relation with resistance to the penetration of P. infestans. Phenolic depositions were intrinsically similar in potato cultivars with and without R genes, which stresses the difficulty in differentiating between horizontal and vertical resistance."

GM potatoes for UK 'in 10 years'?

noreply@blogger.com (Phill Wharton) — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 17:12:00 +0000

The BBC news website is running a story today on BASF requesting permission to grow GM potatoes in the United Kingdom. According to the article:

"BASF says it hopes GM potatoes could be sold in the UK within 10 years. It says they would be resistant to late blight disease, meaning no need for spraying fields with fungicides, and could save millions in damaged crops."

However, they face opposition from environmentalists who say "consumers do not want GM potatoes even if it means cutting back on chemicals." Claire Oxborough, from Friends of the Earth said:

"Consumers have already made that choice and that's why all the supermarkets and food companies have stopped using GM ingredients in their foods."

However, an earlier story on the BBC website reavealed the potential value of such research as it emerged that the Soil Association, which promotes organic farming as being free of artificial chemicals has admitted that copper-based (copper oxychloride) sprays were being used to control late blight. From the article:

Tom Gilbert, who runs Ballylaggan organic farm in Northern Ireland, questions whether organic potato production should even be attempted in the British isles because of a climate which almost invariably results in blight infection.

He said: "If you have to spray things to make them succeed, it's not really what the organic ideal is about. I do it with a heavy heart spraying them because I don't really approve of it."

Montcalm Research Farm Field Day this Thursday (Aug 17)

noreply@blogger.com (Phill Wharton) — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 23:18:00 +0000

Just a note to remind everyone that the Montcalm Research Farm Field Day is this coming Thursday (Aug 17). Events will start at 11:00 am at the Douglass Township Hall, in Entrican. See the attached flyer for further details, or contact Chris Long by phone at (517) 355-0271 Ext. 193, or e-mail: longch@msu.edu.

New Pink Rot Bulletin online

noreply@blogger.com (Phill Wharton) — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 19:52:00 +0000

The new webpage on Pink rot of potato is now online. The webpage covers the symptoms of the disease, disease cycle and current control options available in Michigan. A printed version of the webpage will be available from the MSU Extension Bulletin Office later in the Fall, and when that is published a .pdf version will be made available online. To receive a .pdf version before then contact webmaster@potatodiseases.org and I will send you one via e-mail.

Late Blight Disease Prediction Models

noreply@blogger.com (Phill Wharton) — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 23:16:00 +0000

With the resurgence of late blight in the state this year, I thought I would add a link on our links page to the UC Davis potato late blight models webpage, for those of you who are interested in how late blight disease prediction models work. The model used on the lateblight.org website is based on the model developed by Wallin (model #12).

Late blight strain from Three Rivers outbreak identified

noreply@blogger.com (Phill Wharton) — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 18:10:00 +0000

Isolates of Phytophthora infestans (the late blight pathogen) collected from infected plants in fields near Three Rivers, MI at the beginning of July (2006) have all been identified as the US 8 strain of the late blight pathogen. US 8 is the most common isolated detected in the United States. For more information on the different strains of P. infestans see the poster by Young et al., 2005 (.pdf file).

Late Blight outbreaks discovered in NE Michigan

noreply@blogger.com (Phill Wharton) — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 17:59:00 +0000

Late blight outbreaks have been reported in Sagniaw and Tuscola counties. In Saginaw county, a single outbreak was reported in a field near Birch Run. Multiple outbreaks have been reported in Tuscola county. With the recent thunder storms and heavy rains that have swept across the state in recent days it is important to be extra vigilant when scouting fields for late blight. Particular attention should be paid to pivot tracks and other such lanes created by farm machinery. For further information on measures that should be taken when late blight is observed refer to the Late Blight extension bulletin.

PAA/Solanaceae 2006 Meeting Posters Online

noreply@blogger.com (Phill Wharton) — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 07:22:00 +0000

The Potato Association of America annual meeting is going on this week in conjunction with the VI International Solanaceae Conference and Solanaceae Genomics Network, in Madison Wisconsin. The posters which we presented this year are now available for download in .pdf format. See the Recent publications page for more details.

Late Blight Outbreak spreads in SW Michigan

noreply@blogger.com (Phill Wharton) — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 23:19:00 +0000

The Late Blight Risk Level for St. Josephs county in southwest Michigan has been raised to Pink, as late blight has now been reported in more fields in the Three Rivers area. At this risk level systemic fungicides are recommended at full application rate along with a protectant fungicide such as Bravo, plus Supertin at 3 - 3.75 oz/acre.

Montcalm Research Farm Field Day, Aug. 17

noreply@blogger.com (Phill Wharton) — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 16:14:00 +0000

The Montcalm Potato Research Farm Field Day will be held this year on August 17. Events will start at 11:00 am at the Douglass Township Hall, in Entrican. See the attached flyer for further details, or contact Chris Long by phone at (517) 355-0271 Ext. 193, or e-mail: longch@msu.edu.

LATE BLIGHT FOUND IN MICHIGAN

noreply@blogger.com (Phill Wharton) — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 20:45:00 +0000

Late blight has been found in a field in Southwest Michigan near the town of Three Rivers. It was found on a variety that is particularly susceptible to the disease. However, it is highly unlikely that the disease was initiated through seed-borne infection as it appeared 7 days after heavy rains and thunderstorms passed through the area. The outbreak has been contained, as the infected area has been dessicated with Diquat and the surrounding fields have been sprayed with Gavel, Curzate, Supertin and Bravo.

This year has seen heavy rains in some areas of the state and this outbreak illustrates the need to be vigilant and the importance of scouting fields at least once a week. Particular attention should be paid to pivot tracks and other such lanes created by farm machinery. For further information on measures that should be taken when late blight is observed refer to the Late Blight extension bulletin. This bulletin is also available as a high quality downloadable .pdf file.

New Frequently Asked Questions page added

noreply@blogger.com (Phill Wharton) — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 01:33:00 +0000

Due to all the recent changes to the lateblight disease prediction website, I have added a new FAQ page to the site to address some of the most common questions that I have been asked recently. If you have any other questions/answers you think should be added to the page please let me know.

Lateblight Prediction goes Dynamic

noreply@blogger.com (Phill Wharton) — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 19:48:00 +0000

The lateblight disease prediction system has had a major update. Although the model on which the system is based is the same, weather data and disease severity values are now stored in a database. This allows us to generate webpages and disease recommendations dynamically. Most of the changes occur in the background, but the most noticeable change is in the map on the front page. Markers on the map now change color based on the current risk level for that weather station and clicking on a marker will bring up a window with a summary showing the current risk level for the station and DSV's for the last 10 days.