News on Crop Protection from Northern America

When some Colombian potato varieties are lightly grazed by a pest, the plants respond by growing larger tubers, at times doubling their yields. Researchers see an opportunity and want to know more...

Chemicals in the leaves of potato plants, produced naturally by the plant, may hold the key to a new way to control Colorado potato beetles - a major pest for potato growers.

Certis USA has entered into an agreement with Corpoica, the Colombian Corporation for Agriculture Research, to license Corpoica’s Spodoptera frugiperda nucleopolyhedrovirus (SfMNPV) strain NPV003 and formulation technology for a biopesticide against the fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda).

Potato Expo 2018 announces live streaming Potato TV throughout the event. Voting for the presentations on the Innovation Hub 'Main Stage' is now open.

The National Potato Council (NPC) led a delegation of 6 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) staff on a tour of Idaho potato fields during the week of August 14.

Red River Valley potato growers generally have avoided drought and deluge this growing season. That bodes well for the soon-to-begin 2017 harvest.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker signed two new measures involving the potato industry last Wednesday. One law makes use of certified seed potatoes mandatory, the other enforces a faster response to the presence of late blight

Pressure from the tiny, winged insects that spread zebra chip disease in potatoes has been light in Idaho this season, emboldening some Idaho farmers to scale back on their pesticide programs.

UMaine scientists say farmers could try to protect their potato crop by utilizing agricultural practices — including crop rotations and push-pull strategies — to create field conditions that favor Colorado potato beetle cannibalism.

Soybean producers are gearing up to plant soybeans that are tolerant to both glyphosate and dicamba herbicides. Potato growers should be aware that both glyphosate and dicamba drift can cause irreparable damage in neighbouring potato crops

The potato industry may be losing a mainstay in the battle against psyllids, according to a recent Texas A&M AgriLife Research study.

French Fry manufacturer McCain Foods has started trials examining soil fumigation with several of its potato growers in Maine (United States) and New Brunswick (Canada).

Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON) announced that at a special meeting of shareowners held on December 13, shareowners of the company approved the merger of Monsanto with a wholly owned subsidiary of Bayer Aktiengesellschaft.

The North-western European Potato Growers (NEPG) expect in the 5 covered countries (NL, B, FR, GB, DE) a lower production of potatoes (seed and potatoes.for starch production not included) compared to last season.

Potato psyllids have been reported in specific fields in western and central North Dakota. At this point populations are not widespread.

According to the University of Minnesota Extension 'Spudbug' Newsletter, it is shaping up to be a Colorado Potato Beetle (CPB) year in the Red River Valley.

For years, PEI potato farmer Robert Green has been growing barley and canola in rotation with potatoes. This season, he’s decided to try something new.

Entomologist Ada Szczepaniec at Texas A&M AgriLife Research is addressing the concern of growing resistance of potato psyllids to the neonicotinoid classification of insecticides.