The start of harvest of potatoes for storage in Manitoba, or the main harvest, has been delayed due to warm temperatures, the Sept. 1 provincial potato report from Manitoba Agriculture’s Vikram Bisht said. It’s expected to start after the first week of September.
Harvesting for processing direct-from-field has been ongoing for three weeks, the report noted. All seed potato fields have been terminated.
Temperatures for the Aug. 21 to 27 week were warm with highs of 31 C. Overnight temperatures ranged from 4.7 to 8.9 C, which were two to three degrees cooler than the week before.
The report noted that there was practically no rainfall over the week, with totals ranging from 0.4 to 8.3 mm.
“However, the weather conditions were favourable for late blight disease after a few days of drizzle (post Aug. 20), and the late blight risk forecast model indicated moderate to high risk in many potato growing areas,” Bisht said.
There have been no late blight spores trapped in Manitoba, the report said. Green peach aphid and potato aphid numbers were high over the season. Potato early dying has shown up in many more fields with greater incidence and severity, Bisht noted both Verticillium wilt and black dot diseases have been recorded.
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