Crop management during a challenging season topped the agenda for growers attending the recent Potatoes in Practice showcase in Scotland.
Bringing together the latest research and demonstrations, the annual event at Balruddery Farm near Dundee, was hosted by the James Hutton Institute, Scotland’s Rural College SRUC and crop management company Agrii.
It also provided crop protection company BASF the opportunity to demonstrate its support for the adoption of practices and solutions which improve sustainability and resilience in potato production.
Fight against blight
This includes the Hutton institute’s Fight Against Blight (FAB), a tool which has identified and mapped potato late blight pathogen populations since 2006, with up to 1,500 field samples from across Britain.
BASF agronomy manager Scott Milne said: “We enjoyed welcoming visitors from across the potato growing and processing chain, exchanging insights on the current season and demonstrating the performance of our two fungicides.
“Honesty is a liquid tuber treatment containing Xemium, available in partner packs with an application enhancer. It has strong activity on rhizoctonia, silver scurf, and black dot, with incidental activity against dry rot and gangrene.
In-furrow fungicide
These diseases can have a significant impact on the yield and marketability of potato crops. Honesty also brings physiological benefits, giving more stolon initiation, leading to more uniform potatoes and higher marketable yield. BASF’s other fungicide Allstar contains Xemium. Applied in-furrow at planting, it gives moderate control of black scurf caused by soil-borne Rhizoctonia solani. In-furrow application means the soil around the plant is treated, rather than the potato itself.
“We could see from the potatoes in the plots that using Allstar produces clean, uniform, and bright-looking potatoes,” said Mr Milne.
He added: “Allstar reduces Rhizoctonia symptoms such as misshapes, growth cracks, elephant hide, and irregular skin setting, and helps crops develop faster and produce more potatoes.
Aphid management
A third BASF demonstration plot at the event contained a beneficials nectar mix, which is designed for integrated pest management, and provides food for natural predators that help control aphids.
Aphid-borne viruses can affect ware and seed growers, causing significant economic losses. Potato leafroll virus is a re-emerging UK threat and has become the main virus seen in seed certification inspections, said Adrian Fox, of Fera Science.
Late blight was a common topic of conversation on the BASF stand as Phytophthora infestans has developed resistance to two key fungicide active ingredients, bringing exceptional pressure to late blight management strategies across Europe.
New solutions
Privest (Initium + potassium phosphonates) works systemically and has activity against all late blight genotypes with no resistance issues. BASF says its strong efficacy aims to help build a sustainable programme for current crops and future crops.
“We also have another stand-alone protectant late blight fungicide coming to market soon (subject to approval) which will give growers another option in the ongoing fight against this disease,” said Mr Milne. “The huge amount of expert knowledge at Potatoes in Practice, one of the UK’s premier field-based potato events, will help those involved in this vital industry make informed decisions for this and future seasons.”