A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases <http://www.isid.org>
In this posting:
[1] Nigeria (Plateau)
[2] UK: alert
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[1] Nigeria (Plateau)
Date: Wed 11 Jun 2014
Source: The Nigerian Observer [edited]
<http://www.nigerianobservernews.com/06062014/business/business4.html#.U5gyvPklSUl>
Farmers cry out over potato blight disease
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Farmers in Plateau [Department] have called for the assistance of the government over the outbreak of a fungal disease ravaging their potato farms. The disease [has] affected more than 500 hectares [1236 ac] of potato farm lands in one council alone. Farmers [have] described the destruction as "very massive and frightening". 5 communities [are] affected but [in] the worst hit most of the crops have dried up.
"The pesticide with which we can treat the crops is so expensive that some of us cannot afford it," a farmer said. He, however, blamed the blight on the [potato cultivars] farmers planted this [2014] season.
The state commissioner for agriculture, Mr Steven Barko, said, "The outbreak of the disease is very strange to us. We have never experienced any like it and we are not leaving anything to chance in tackling it."
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[2] UK: alert
Date: Fri 6 Jun 2014
Source: Farmers Guardian, Arable Farming [edited] <http://www.farmersguardian.com/arable-farming/news/blight-risk-highlighted-as-disease-makes-a-very-early-appearance/64950.article>
Blight risk highlighted as disease makes a very early appearance
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Potato crops are at very high risk from a serious blight epidemic this [2014] season and growers will need to begin control programmes early to keep the disease at bay.
That is the warning from agronomy firm Hutchinsons, which says the mild, wet winter and spring have created ideal conditions for the development of blight inoculum across the UK. The firm's Darryl Shailes says some blight cases have already been confirmed by the Potato Council's Fight Against Blight monitoring service. "We have not had a harsh winter to knock back the inoculum or reduce the number of volunteers and with the current mild temperatures and frequent rain we are on for a pretty serious blight epidemic in all crops this year [2014]."
Blight has already been confirmed in a potato dump in East Anglia and there has been blight recorded in glasshouse crops in Lincolnshire as early as anyone can recall, he adds.
The situation is equally concerning further north in Scotland, where Hutchinsons Cameron Ferguson says exceptionally wet weather and temperatures well into the high teens recently have increased blight pressure. "There had already been 2 blight warnings and growers will have to be extremely vigilant."
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[Potato late blight (PLB) is caused by the fungus-like organism _Phytophthora infestans_ and can cause 100 per cent crop loss. The pathogen can also affect tomato and some other solanaceous crops. In potato, it affects leaves as well as tubers, and in tomato, it causes lesions and rotting of leaves, stems, and fruits. The disease can spread rapidly within a crop and destroy it within a few days. Under favourable conditions, epidemics in tomatoes may be even more rapid than in potatoes.
PLB is spread by plant material (including plant debris and volunteer crop plants), mechanical means (including human and insect activities), wind, and water. Disease management requires an integrated approach and may include removal of pathogen reservoirs, crop rotation, preventive fungicide treatments of planting material (potato seed tubers, tomato transplants), and fungicide sprays of crops. However, more virulent strains with additional fungicide resistances and increased yield losses are emerging frequently.
Late blight is considered an increasing problem worldwide and seed tuber certification schemes have been set up in many countries as an important part of PLB management. Development of resistant cultivars is being counteracted by the adaptability of the pathogen. Clean planting stock (potato seed tubers, tomato explants) and management strategies for fungicide resistance of the pathogen are therefore considered vital to control PLB outbreaks in the future.
Maps
Nigeria:
<http://i.infoplease.com/images/mnigeria.gif> and <http://healthmap.org/promed/p/616>
Nigerian departments:
<http://www.nigerianwatch.com/images/stories/naija%20map%20ii.gif>
UK:
<http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/europe/united_kingdom.gif> and <http://healthmap.org/promed/p/40>
Pictures
Late blight on potato:
<http://www.potatomuseum.com/images/exblightfieldwithinsert.jpg> and <http://www.concordma.com/blog/Symptom_potato_late_blight.jpg> (leaf) Late blight on tomato:
<http://ipm.illinois.edu/ifvn/volume15/images/tomato_late_blight.jpg>
Microscopy of PLB infected cells:
<http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/optics/olympusmicd/galleries/brightfield/images/potatoblight.jpg>
Links
Late blight fact sheets:
<http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/3000/3102.html> and <http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/factsheets/Potato_LateBlt.htm>
Disease history and background:
<http://www.apsnet.org/edcenter/intropp/lessons/fungi/Oomycetes/Pages/LateBlight.aspx>
Late blight information and resources via:
<http://euroblight.net/>
_P. infestans_ taxonomy:
<http://www.indexfungorum.org/Names/NamesRecord.asp?RecordID=232148>
Global Initiative on Late Blight:
<https://research.cip.cgiar.org/confluence/display/GILBWEB/Home> - Mod.DHA]
[See Also:
Late blight, potato & tomato - Canada: strains 20140428.2434165 Late blight, potato - Bangladesh: (KH) 20140320.2345850
2013
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Late blight, tomato - Oman: (BS) 20130603.1752356 Yellow leaf curl & blights, tomato - Pakistan: (SD) 20130206.1531086 Late blight, potato: new strains threat 20130111.1492024
2012
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Late blight, potato - UK: strain Green 33 20120202.1031230
2010
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Late blight type A2, potato - Estonia: 1st report 20101129.4298 Late blight, seed potato, tomato - India: (HP) 20101015.3738 Late blight, tomato - Canada: (AB) 20100915.3336 Late blight & mildew, vegetables - USA, Canada, update 20100712.2328 Late blight, potato - Ireland: strain Pink 6 20100604.1851 Dickeya, leaf blights, potato - UK, Ireland 20100528.1775 Late blight, tomato - USA: alert 20100519.1648 Late blight, potato - India: (KA) control 20100505.1458 Late blight, potato - Ireland: strain Blue13 20100212.0505 Late blight, potato - Bangladesh: (RJ) 20100126.0285 and older items in the archives]
Topics
Species
