Teagasc Reports First Potato Blight Outbreak
Issued 12thJune 2001
The first outbreak of potato blight in Ireland in 2001 has been reported Tuesday, June 12th, on a farm in South Tipperary, according to the Teagasc potato blight recording system.
The Teagasc recording system tracks the initial outbreak of the disease in the different potato growing areas with the aim of helping growers to implement effective blight control programmes.
Dr Leslie Dowley, potato blight research specialist with Teagasc said the first outbreak was detected on a crop of early potatoes on Friday, June 8th.
''The average date of outbreak of blight for maincrop potatoes is in the latter half of July. However, for early crops in the south of the country, disease outbreak can be much earlier. Once blight has made its initial appearance, the further development of an epidemic is dependent on the control programme, variety, growth stage and the prevailing weather conditions'', he said.
All potato growing areas are being monitored by the potato inspectors of the Department of Agriculture, Food & Rural Development as well as the specialist potato advisers in Teagasc. When late blight is first identified in an area, the information is entered on a map so that the location and date of the outbreak is obvious at a glance. The map is up-dated on a weekly basis by Dr Dowley and colleagues at Oak Park Research Centre.
The map will be updated throughout the summer and will enable growers to check if blight has been reported from their area.
