Jun 27, 2016Growers wrap up planting in Maine
Potato growers in Maine have finished up planting and hope for a smooth season, the Bangor Daily News reports. Last year growers had a troubling year battling Dickeya, a new pathogen in Maine. Dickeya is a bacteria that can cause the rotting disease blackleg.
Here’s more from the Bangor Daily News:
Last summer, an outbreak of blackleg struck customers of Maine seed potato farmers in other states and was in part traced back to Dickeya, a bacteria that seems to stay mostly dormant in Maine, only to fuel blackleg when the seed potatoes are planted in warmer climates.
Since then, the quasi-governmental [Maine Potato Board] mounted a response to the outbreak, spurring new quality control and testing measures in the state’s seed potato certification program.
The Maine Potato Board is finishing renovations on a laboratory that will be one of the first in the country that can accurately diagnose Dickeya, a bacteria that’s long caused crop losses in Europe.
Read the full article on the Bangor Daily News website.
