Zebra chip disease is named after the dark stripes it forms inside afflicted potato tubers when cut and fried to make chips.
Zebra chip has caused millions of dollars in production and processing losses since its first reported U.S. occurrence in potato fields near McAllen and Pearsall, Texas, in 2000.
The disease, whose above-ground symptoms include necrosis and purplish, upward-curling leaves, among others, has since been reported in several other states (California, Nevada, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Washington, Oregon, and Idaho), Mexico, parts of Central America, and New Zealand.
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Potato Tubers affected by Zebra chip disease
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Potato Psyllids Have Returned to Magic Valley, Idaho
Or maybe they just never went away. Psyllids, a tiny insect that can damage potatoes, might be hardier than some people originally thought. A simple mesh cover could be the answer to halting New Zealand's most devastating tomato and potato pests, the tomato potato psyllid. Las mariquitas podrían ser la clave para la salvación de un insecto transmisor de una bacteria para la industria de la papa de Nueva Zelanda. It appears that potato psyllids, the tiny winged insects that can spread zebra chip disease in potato fields, will overwinter in Boise, Idaho, this season, despite the city experiencing one of its coldest Januaries on record. Research conducted by the Bio-Protection Research Centre at Lincoln University, using the southern ladybird as a biological control agent, has shown the predator to be voracious and effective at reducing tomato-potato psyllid (TPP) numbers on glasshouse potatoes. Idaho potato growers at a Monday meeting in Burley approved processing contracts with J.R. Simplot and McCain Foods that both include payment increases averaging 1.6 percent. Idaho potato growers will vote Monday in Burley on contracts with McCain Foods and J.R. Simplot Co. paying a 1.6 percent average increase, according to sources involved in negotiations. Los paperos de Costa Rica temen la entrada de esta enfermedad a su territorio. No es para menos. En Honduras ha ocasionado grandes pérdidas económicas y en Nicaragua ya fue detectada. Se trata de la mancha rayada o zebra chip.
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