15 August 2024

Blight is still a risk to potato crops

As the early potato harvest progresses and with maincrop varieties expected to appear in about two weeks’ time, Crops Specialist at Teagasc, Shay Phelan tells us how blight still poses a risk to potato crops.

Early potato crops are now being harvested with reports of good yields, although the prices have slipped a bit from last month which is to be expected. Maincrop varieties should start to appear in about two weeks’ time.

August is often one of the wettest months of the year and subsequently we tend to see more blight at this time of year. Even though this can be put down to the wetter conditions, it can also sometimes be due to the fact that growers are busy at cereal harvest.

In recent weeks, we have seen plenty of blight in crops especially where timings have been missed or short cuts have been taken. Practically all growers are following a defined programme this year due to the risk of EU43 becoming established in crops. Thankfully, there seems to be little of EU43 found in the population so far this year so the programmes seem to be working.

Continue with the programmes and remember to continue them even after desiccation, as Spotlight Plus and Gozai can be relatively slow to burn down crops especially in dull conditions.

Learn more on the potato blight EU43 here.

Also read: Harvest lull an opportunity to drill winter oilseed rape