When the potatoes have been harvested, graded and put into storage a great weight has been lifted. The spuds aren’t going to be stuck in the ground due to late season rain. Grubs and bugs aren’t going to start affecting the tubers, and it looks like most of the disease issues have been avoided. They’re safe. Except there is another consideration, and that is storage diseases, discussed in this PotatoLink magazine article.

Blackleg is a bacterial infection of potato tubers and stems. While the disease is not widespread in Australia, new causal organisms have been identified over the past few years, warranting industry awareness.

This webinar on tomato potato psyllid (TPP) and zebra chip was delivered by Dr Melinda Moir, senior laboratory scientist in entomology at the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD), and John Jackson, director of Potatoes New Zealand.

In this webinar, Dr Len Tesoriero gave an overview of the symptoms and causes, disease occurrence and spread and the biology of the bacterial causal pathogens. Followed by Dr Nigel Crump who discussed management biosecurity and seed certification.

Dr Phillip Wharton from Idaho University delivered this webinar on rot diseases in potatoes including Pink Rot, Leak (Pythium), Dry Rot and Soft Rot. It looked at the biology of the pathogens, symptoms and management options.

Watch this panel discussion and the last soil biology masterclass with potato growers across Australia and see many of your questions answered.

In this second soil biology masterclass, Dr. Calum Wilson explains about the good, the bad and ugly ones in the soil and how they interact, and what you can do to keep them in balance to protect your potato crop.

In this PotatoLink Disease Webinar Series No 1, research scientist, Dr Tonya Wiechel, provided an overview of a 10-year integrated disease management program showcasing the team’s investigations into common scab.

Management of rots, both in the field and postharvest, is an ongoing challenge for potato producers. The issue is usually managed by minimising the time interval between harvesting and processing of potatoes. Read the report by Soil Wealth Integrated Crop Protection for more information.

Blackleg on potato can be caused by either Pectobacterium or Dickeya species, and they often work together in different combinations to cause this disease. Blackleg can result in stem decay, severe seed decay and sometimes lack of plant emergence in severe cases. This Hort Innovation and RM Consulting Group (RMCG) factsheet provides information on managing blackleg in potato crops.

Management of rots, both in the field and post-harvest, is an ongoing challenge for potato producers. Agronomists Marc Hinderager and Dr Pieter Van Nieuwenhuyse discuss a trial that was set up to explore the effect of sanitisers and/or drying on the development of post-harvest bacterial soft rot in potatoes.

This Monitoring Psyllids and Psyllid Predators in Australian Potato Crops report by Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA) and Hort Innovation covers the different psyllid populations found and the levels of psyllid predators present.

This 2018 report looks at the available literature and information regarding species present in Australia. It also investigates the accessibility of accurate diagnostic tests.

This 2003 report found the most common cause of decay was identified as bacterial soft rot (Erwinia carotivora). Calcium fertiliser levels and tuber calcium content was explored in this report alongside the importance of sourcing clean certified seed.

This 2003 paper by SA Research &Development Institute delves into the postharvest washing of potatoes to find where bacterial soft rot originates and where it develops. The report suggests some ways in which soft rot causing bacteria can be controlled in this process.