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University of Idaho Extension seed potato pathologist Kasia Duellman predicts prolonged heat stress will increase pressure from a couple of economically important diseases affecting Idaho potatoes late this growing season.
For a third consecutive year, Duellman has organized a Potato Integrated Pest Management Field Day, scheduled for Aug. 21 at U of I’s Aberdeen Research and Extension Center, where researchers and industry participants will see disease symptoms in research plots and assess management approaches.
The field day is free to attend and includes beverages, breakfast snacks and a boxed lunch. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m., and the program will start at 9 a.m. Duellman anticipates up to 50 participants.
“I decided we needed a late-season field day that highlighted some of the disease issues we have seen in potatoes that we weren’t able to see in the early season,” Duellman said. “This is a great time of year to start seeing what’s happening in the foliage, and it also gives people a chance to see some of the late season impacts on other crops like mustard, sugarbeets and quinoa that we might be highlighting at the Aberdeen station.”
Duellman expects hot weather this growing season may weaken plants and render them more susceptible to the damaging fungal disease known as early die. Certain potato varieties, such as Russet Norkotah and Russet Burbank, are especially prone to heat stress.
The following topics and research projects will be covered during the workshop: integrated disease management of verticillium wilt, managing powdery scab and common scab, integrated management of potato virus Y, management of rhizoctonia diseases, spore traps to monitor for pathogens as part of an integrated disease management plan, cercospora leaf spot in sugarbeets, herbicidal weed control in potatoes and quinoa, sustainable practices in southeast Idaho and cereal-pea intercropping systems, optimization of different herbicides for weed management in yellow, brown and oriental mustard and an integrated approach for managing fusarium dry rot in storage.
Speakers will include U of I researchers Duellman, James Woodhall, Phil Wharton, Xi Liang, Jared Spackman, Ali Hafiz, Rabecka Hendricks and Brent Beutler.
Pesticide applicator and certified crop adviser recertification credits will be awarded. The Idaho Potato Commission assisted with funding the event.