Extensive survey in Scotland shows no sign of Dickeya Solani

After the feared potato disease Dickeya Solani showed up in Scotland in imported seed potatoes in 2009 and 2010, a new survey shows no signs of the disease in 2011.

The survey was carried out in support of Scottish legislation which established a "nil"tolerance for Dickeya infections in seed crops.

The survey is risk-based. As a consequence, all seed and ware crops produced from non-Scottish origin seed (including farm saved seed from ware of non-Scottish origin) were targeted and inspected twice as part of the Growing Crop Inspection (GCI).

There was a marked reduction in the number of non-Scottish origin crops grown in 2011 and this is reflected in the small number of samples tested from this category. In addition, groundkeepers sampled from fields which had a Dickeya-infected crop in 2009 or 2010 were also tested, as were a large group of crops deemed to be at higher risk.

This latter category included seed and ware crops grown on holdings which had a previous Dickeya infection, or which are in the vicinity of watercourses known to be infested with Dickeya spp. Finally, a representative sample of Scottish-origin seed and ware crops were also included, comprising roughly 10% of all seed crops, selected from SE or E crops showing blackleg symptoms during GCI.

No samples tested positive for Dickeya spp..