Manitoba potato crops received cooler temperatures and less rain over the past week, the July 21 provincial potato report from Manitoba Agriculture’s Vikram Bisht said.
Temperatures ranged from 25 to 27 C over the week, down by two to three degrees from previous weeks. The report noted these were good tuberization and bulking conditions.
While temperatures were cooler, there was little rain and no hail recorded over the week, Bisht said in the report. He noted the crop water demand exceeded the rainfall amount, with supplemental irrigation and fertigation being used.
There have been minor incidences of blackleg wilting and cutworm damage reported, the report said. Fields that were reporting Colorado Potato Beetle incidence and damage earlier in the growing season, are now seeing less.
“Aphid numbers continue to be low, but there are Potato Aphids trapped in some sites. Potato Aphids are efficient vectors of potato viruses, eg PVY; and these fields need Aphid Oil and insecticide if near a commercial potato field or has some levels of PVY in-field itself,” the report said.
There’s some European corn borer damage occurring in fields. Spornado traps haven’t found any late blight spores but have saw some early blight spores, Bisht noted disease is being seen in more fields at low levels.
“Spore traps are just a tool in the late blight management, and cannot replace in-field scouting of disease prone areas in a field. It is a community disease, so please help the community by reporting any find,” he said.
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