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Storage diseases don’t start after harvest – they start with
infected seed pieces and infected soil. Worse, potato storage
diseases are often difficult to control once they occur due to the
lack of post-harvest products registered for control of potato
diseases, and how the storage environment and conditions
can favor the spread of certain diseases.
Silver scurf (Helminthosporium solani) has recently grown
into a significant storage problem for growers. Typically, silver
scurf lesions are seen four to five months after storage begins
and may produce spores or conidia that allow the secondary
spread of the disease in storage, resulting in an increase in
both disease incidence and severity. Fusarium dry rot is another
major disease that can infect more than 60 percent of tubers in
storage. If the storage is improperly managed the dry rot can
progress steadily in pockets and then compound eventually in
larger areas of the pile making the potatoes unusable.
A good disease management strategy is to start with an
effective broad spectrum seed treatment to ensure that the
primary Inoculum is prevented or reduced from entering
the production system. Applying a seed treatment such
as CruiserMaxx® Potato insecticide/fungicide can lead to
a higher quality and more marketable potato by improving
insect and disease management. The fungicide component
of CruiserMaxx Potato, Maxim® 4FS, inhibits the growth and
development of major seed-and soil-borne disease pathogens
including silver scurf, Fusarium and Rhizoctonia. CruiserMaxx
Potato applied on seed pieces helps prevent infections that
could haunt producers well after harvest. |
