Potato Review

CONTENTS www.potatoreview.com POTATO REVIEW SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 3 Editor’s letter Welcome to the September edition of Potato Review, where we investigate modes of attack on some old enemies and highlight some innovative research into pest control. Old diseases are posing new challenges to the current seed and ware industry, and we should be careful not to overlook the losses and cost impacts that can be caused by dry rot, gangrene and skin spot, two consultants have claimed, while agronomist Matt Hardy looks at the onset of early blight ( Alternaria spp ) and how this is being impacted by recent changes to the weather conditions in Britain. We report on a decision support tool to help growers predict the risk of blackleg and likely impact of mitigation strategies which is being developed as part of amulti-institute project funded by UKResearch and Innovation (UKRI), Defra and the Scottish Government, and in a separate feature we reveal how sown ower strips grown in the tramlines and headlands of potato crops not only provide biodiversity but can also increase the abundance of natural enemies of crop pests such as aphids. Four pages of machinery updates are outlined in this issue and we’re also happy to reveal that Covid-19 couldn’t put the brakes on the unveiling of new varieties - keep on reading to nd out more! NEWS: Special report: AHDBballot 04 09 19 POTATO PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 34 INTERNATIONAL FOCUS: POST HARVEST CLEANING WCM TRIALS 15 16 SEED DISEASES 12 Stephanie Cornwall Editor BLACKLEG RESEARCH EARLY BLIGHT FOCUS MACHINERY THE BENEFITS OF WILDFLOWERS AHDB ON THE SPOT 22 26 43 31 41

RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy Mzg1Mw==