b'concern, he says. Even though its not present in our vicinity, there were areas where the spores were trapped but late blight disease was not reported in the field.Bisht also notes that in B.C. there were documented late blight cases and that could be problematic for Manitoba if infected seed is sent to the province for market gardens or seed sales.Manitoba hasnt had strong levels of the disease for the last few years, yet its still the No. 1 concern because of how fast it can do damage, not only in the field. It can lead to significant losses due to a lot of secondary rotting, poor storability and quality issues he says.Tight rotations are always at a greater risk of running into verticillium wilt, and he expects this year to be no different. Most growers go for longer rotations in affected fields and there are certain varieties which are more tolerant to the impacts of disease. Many growers, he says, also try to manage it with Late blight on a potato tuber.PHOTO: RICK PETERS, AAFC CHARLOTTETOWN fumigation, either chemical or biological based agents, including mustard, the latter of which is being tested on a large scale to see or are brought on by favourable soil and weather conditions,if commercial adoption has merit.explains MacKinnon. Like other provinces, Bisht notes that aphids will likely be an Depending on the weather in 2023 for Island farmers, dryissue, specifically for seed potato growers, it just depends on the weather will mean to watch for pathogens to watch for will beseverity. In 2022, Manitoba had a surge of total aphids in seed alternaria or PED, but if its wet, watch for botrytis and whitepotato fields, but green peach aphid and Potato aphid were low. mold. Overall numbers were much lower compared to Atlantic Canada.The government three-year click beetle survey results wereWeve had some seed lots which are showing some levels released Feb. 13 during the P.E.I. Potato Conference. In short,of Potato Virus Y infection; it can be an issue especially when populations are shrinking. A firm commitment to crop rotationthe seed crop and the commercial crop are grown close by and has reduced the beetle to negligible levels. Combine that with aaphid populations can move the disease from the infected lots to new insecticide that hit the market two years ago and farmers arethe clean fields, he explains.back on top. With CPBs, although they are a concern in some localized Corn borer and flea beetle are also of no concern at the moment. areas, populations are well managed in most of Manitoba with Everyone continues to talk about potato wart, and forinsecticide seed treatment alone or with added single foliar good reason. After one of the worst years thanks to a closedspray. However, there are increasing numbers that are becoming U.S. market, Island farmers are poised to bounce back withresistant to certain insecticides, despite the overall population co-operation from all levels of government working to supportbeing manageable.P.E.I. growers. His words of wisdom arent anything brand new, but it bears This has been a very difficult issue for P.E.I. potato growers,repeating: Get good quality seed, look at the disease forecasts says MacKinnon. A recent report by an international advisoryand work very well with your agronomist so they can monitor panel states that the management of potato wart on P.E.I. hasthe crop for you and use good recommendations, says Bisht.been effective and follows international standards, that the pathogen is present however, is not widely distributed and underOntarioofficial control. Ontario has had a somewhat mild winter compared to They have also provided some recommendations on theother years. As such, this could see a rise in volunteers and development of pest free areas or places of pest free productionsubsequently late blight, warns Dennis Van Dyk, vegetable to enable the movement of seed, she says. The province isspecialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and working with industry and the federal government to moveRural Affairs (OMAFRA).forward with these recommendations as efficiently as possible. The mild winter makes me weary about potential for late Other seedborne diseases which will likely appear in at leastblight to take off, despite there not being huge levels of inoculum some fields include blackleg, Fusarium, common scab and softaround, he says. Getting late blight on volunteers in rotational rot, all of which carry well-established control methods. crops is probably the main concern at this point with a mild winter. We didnt have a lot of late blight pressure last year, but Manitoba you never know what can come up in the season, what comes in Most Manitoba potato farmers will need to keep an eye onon the seed, what gets blown in early season.aphids and late blight, and depending on where you operate,Van Dyk recommends spore trap monitoring to catch spores CPBs, and potato early dying caused by verticillium wilt andand use it as an early warning system in combination with field black dot diseases, according to Vikram Bisht, a pathologist forscouting.potato and horticulture crops for the Manitoba government. Van Dyk also wants farmers to watch out for early blight I expect we will continue to have late blight as our disease ofcaused by alternaria, which is a common pathogen across 16SPUDSMART.COM Spring 2023'