b'Potato Disease and Pest Outlook for 2020While growers across Canada will have a number of pests and diseases targeting potatoes in their specific regions, they all may face one common foe PED.BY: ANGELA LOVELLPOTATO DISEASES SUCH as early or late blightEarly dying is becoming such a serious issue thatIf the soils stay cooler, there could be slow can occur in any Canadian potato growinga number of researchers and scientists from acrossemergence and increase the proneness to tuber region. And as every grower knows, these, andCanada have established the national Canadianrotting, says Bisht.many other disease and pest issues are weatherPotato Early Dying Network (CanPEDnet), working onDepending on the weather conditions, late related, but one disease becoming of increasingvarious aspects of PED. Agriculture & Agri-Food Can- blight, early blight, botrytis and white molds may concern across the whole country is potato earlyada (AAFC), through its potato cluster, has providedbecome an issue for Manitoba and western Prairie dying (PED).funding for the network, which aims to develop andpotato growers in 2020, says Bisht. Most growers In Manitoba, early dying complex (caused by Ver- evaluate model approaches for control, soil and planthave a good fungicide programit is a matter of ticillium and black dot) has become endemic, andtesting and monitoring of PED and develop strategiestiming the applications. in Atlantic Canada its number two, right behindto control it through novel products, crop rotation,A good spray program along with drylate blight. Warm and dry conditions, which havesuppressive crops, and increasing and maintainingmacro-weather were responsible for no late blight plagued Canada in recent years, stress potato cropsbiodiversity. in 2019, but late blight is still one of the most and make them more prone to early dying complex.important diseases growers have to be everBlack dot disease is becoming more importantMANITOBA COULD SUFFER FROM WETvigilant about, says Bisht. With a network of and the surface blemish impacts the processSPRING SOILSweather stations, MARD provides late blight quality and also marketing of fresh potatoes,Based on potentially saturated soils in spring 2020,disease risk forecasts on a regional level. The says Vikram Bisht, with Manitoba Agriculture andthere could be blackleg and/or soft rot related emer- late blight risk increases when the weather is Resource Development (MARD). gence issues in Manitoba fields where drainage is poor. generally moist or wet. Potato plants suffering from potato early dying (PED). PHOTO: TUDOR BORZA24 SPUDSMART.COM SPRING 2020'