News on Potato Defects and Diseases from Northern America

Innate Potatoes, a newly-approved, genetically modified potato variety, will not be grown commercially in Canada this year, says Simplot.

Potato plants boost the chemical defenses in their leaves when Guatemalan tuber moth larvae feed on their tubers, report researchers at the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI).

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.

Potato growers in Maine are cautiously watching the actions of the EPA as it reviews federal regulations for a popular insecticide (Imidacloprid - an effective insecticide against the Colorado potato beetle) that can be harmful to bees.

A wireworm trap invented at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada on PEI 'could be a major breakthrough'

The Two Blades Foundation (2Blades) announced a research partnership between 2Blades, The Sainsbury Laboratory, and J. R. Simplot Company to develop potato varieties with increased resistance to oomycete and bacterial diseases.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has granted federal registration of the new, non-fumigant nematicide Velum® Prime offered by Bayer CropScience's for use on potatoes.

A little-understood bacteria is bringing back the older potato disease Blackleg and is threatening the reputation of Maine seed potatoes

In 2016 a number of new crop protection products for use in potato cultivation are available in Canada

Researchers discovered that in a wild variety of potato (Solanum Microdontum) Calcium levels are about seven times higher than in a regular potato. They developed a molecular marker to facilitate the transfer of the high Calcium trait to newly bred potato varieties.

Acaban de colocar en la web de Euroblight las conferencias del último taller realizado en Brazov (Rumania) entre el 13-15 de mayo de 2015.

BCfresh, a British Columbia-based provider of locally-grown vegetables, announced the introduction of Farmer’s Keepers™ Potatoes. Farmer’s Keepers™ Potatoes come in a variety of non-uniform shapes and sizes with minor blemishes or minor mechanical damage.

Sources say the 2016 Southern Idaho Potato Cooperative contract will include new langcode mandating a minimum of two years of alternate crops between potatoes.

Idaho State University researchers have found high-tech cameras mounted on drones flying 60 meters above potato fields can effectively detect individual diseased and stressed plants.

Neil Gudmestad, a potato pathologist with North Dakota State University, has been awarded the 2015 Potato Man for All Seasons award by produce magazine The Packer.

The Food and Drug Administration has completed its food and feed safety assessment of the J.R. Simplot Company’s second generation of Innate® potatoes. Simplot will still need to complete its registration with the Environmental Protection Agency for these potatoes before introducing them for sale in the U.S. marketplace.

The Prince Edward Island Potato Board is pleased to announce a new plan for potato disinfection on Prince Edward Island.

The Prince Edward Island Potato Board is very disappointed by the decision of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries to completely discontinue disinfection services effective December 31st, 2015.