Brown rot in potatoes outbreak warning

Ulster potato processors and packers must be wary when buying potatoes, following confirmation of a brown rot outbreak in the Republic. That was the message from the Ulster Farmers Union, which warned that if infected potatoes find their way into local factories, the disease could be released into the environment. The disease is caused by the bacterium Ralstonia Solanacearum and causes tubers to rot, along with losses in crop yields.