News on Potato Defects and Diseases from United Kingdom

May 11, 2017

The Sainsbury Laboratory received approval for a four-year trial of genetically modified (GM) potatoes

In the United Kingdom, farming minster George Eustice (DEFRA) has approved a four-year trial of genetically modified (GM) potatoes at The Sainsbury Laboratory in Norwich.

May 08, 2017

Buntata: a new tool to identify potato pests and diseases on the go

Buntata is a collaborative effort between the University of St Andrews and the James Hutton Institute to enable open access to our information resources and put them at the fingertips of potato growers.

November 10, 2016

AHDB committed to keep the UK Seed Potato Industry healthy

AHDB Potatoes has pledged to work closely with the seed potato sector and Scottish Government to ensure that the industry maintains a low level of the bacterial disease blackleg.

October 11, 2016

Blackleg and Brexit under the Spotlight at AHDB Potatoes Seed Industry Event

AHDB Potatoes will use this year’s Seed Industry Event on 3 November to review the industry’s current approach to controlling blackleg. The biennial conference, held this year in St Andrews, will also provide growers with an insight into the potential impact of Brexit, and scope out the potato market, both at home and abroad.

June 14, 2016

Potato parasite’s `toolkit’ revealed

An international group of researchers has detailed the genome sequence and inner workings of the yellow Potato Cyst Nematode (PCN), providing new insights into how it can be stopped.

New ‘Focus on Potato’ Webcast Helps Potato Grower Minimize Spread of Blackleg

May 26, 2016

New ‘Focus on Potato’ Webcast Helps Potato Growers Minimize the Spread of Blackleg

Blackleg, caused by strains of soft rot bacteria known as Dickyea, has traditionally had little impact on North American potato production, but it now appears to be on the move throughout Europe and could increasingly threaten growers in the Eastern United States.

April 25, 2016

New technique accelerates isolation of late blight resistance genes from a wild potato relative

A team of scientists from The Sainsbury Laboratory (TSL) and The Genome Analysis Centre (TGAC) have developed a new method to accelerate isolation of plant disease resistance genes and - using their new method - a brand new source of blight resistance genes in Solanum americanum, a wild relative of the potato.

January 21, 2016

AHDB Fellowship to safeguard critical potato nematology expertise in the United Kingdom

Dr Jon Pickup, Head of Virology & Zoology at Science & Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA) will lead on one of three AHDB Potatoes Fellowship Awards, specifically seeking to secure critical potato nematology expertise for the future.

Maris Piper (Courtesy: Potato Council Variety Database / SASA)

June 10, 2015

The Quest to Engineer the Perfect Potato

Researchers in the United Kingdom aim for a new commercial potato that resists many of the worst vulnerabilities of potato crops around the world.

April 29, 2015

Blightcast warnings (UK) adapted to more aggressive blight strains

Potato growers and agronomists in he United Kingdom will be better prepared to cope with more aggressive blight strains this season, with a new BlightCast warning tailored to focus on infections now typically occurring earlier in the season at cooler temperatures.

July 30, 2014

New international collaboration helps protect potatoes against nematodes

Experts from the UK and India are working together to identify and develop novel environmentally-sustainable strategies to control plant pests, known as plant-parasitic nematodes to ensure global food production and security.

Sporangia of P. infestans: sporangium from which a zoospore is germinating. (photo: B. G. Turgeon; Cornell University)

June 11, 2014

Breakthrough in understanding swarming potato blight spores

Researchers at the Universities of Dundee and Aberdeen have made a breakthrough in understanding how the microbial spores which cause potato blight are so effective at infecting plants.

June 10, 2014

Potato Blight warning issued in Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland, the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute and CAFRE, Greenmount Campus has issued the first potato blight warning for 2014.

May 15, 2014

UK: Potatoes emerge to perfect storm of blight pressure

In the United Kingdom, many potato crops are now emerging well - straight into conditions that pose a high risk of blight.

March 18, 2014

Plagas agrícolas son ‘muy subestimadas’, dice estudio

El número de diferentes tipos de plagas que destruyen las cosechas en el mundo en desarrollo podría ser muy superior a lo que se conoce, lo que estaría contribuyendo aún más a mermar las cosechas en países que son grandes productores de alimentos, dicen investigadores.

August 25, 2013

Avoid bruising at potato harvest by managing moisture levels

Avoid bruising at potato harvest by managing moisture levels pre-desiccation is the advice from Hutchinsons Root Crop Technical manager, Darryl Shailes.