It is a widespread disease that can cause rotting tubers. It’s essential to control its spread as soon as possible by following the best treatment guidelines. The best treatment for potato blight, first and foremost, is crop rotation and planting of susceptible potatoes in different locations every year. In addition, it’s advisable to use new seeds every year and keep off-season crops away from potato crops to minimize infection risk. Fungicides should be used if you live in an area where potato blight is prevalent and they’re sprayed on healthy plants early on before infection has started – this will greatly reduce the risk of your crop being infected with orchids too.  Let’s know the full guidelines.

What Causes Potato Blight Disease?

Ralstonia solanacearum is an attack of bacteria called this disease. 

How is Potato Blight Transmitted?

Ralstonia solanacearum bacteria overwinter in vegetative reproductive organs (other germplasm) such as plant debris, diseased plants, seeds, and tubers.  Generally, bacteria can survive in water for a long time (up to 40 years in pure water at 20-25 °C).

Ralstonia solanacearum due to high proliferation causes the plant to lose freshness and wither and spread to different roots. Most symptoms of R. solanacearum can be shed from roots and spread to asymptomatic plants. Moreover, bacteria can be freed and enter surrounding soil and water, contaminating agricultural equipment. The pathogen can be spread by contaminated flood water, irrigation, contaminated equipment, or infected seed. And when such contaminated water is used for potato irrigation, pathogens enter the potato production system. If bacterial propagation is extreme, infected land may not be reused for susceptible crops for several years. The use of resistant varieties; Avoiding unnecessary wetting of leaves during the rainy season; etc. will help us in the best treatment for potato blight disease management, discussed in detail below.

What Are The Symptoms?

Symptoms of potato blight disease.

• • This disease can be seen at any age of the tree.
  • The tree fell suddenly. The green fell quietly.

• • If you look at the stem of the tree at the beginning, you can see the brown affected area.

• • Cuts of infected potatoes show brown spots inside.

• • White pus appears in the eyes of the potato and the potato rots within a few days.

• • In this disease, the tree usually falls while green.

• • The lower part of the stem and roots are intact, brown color is present due to transport inside the stem.  Drooping is another important symptom of the disease which can be clearly seen when the stem is cut.

• • If the stem of the affected plant is cut and kept steep in clean water, milky white pus comes out after a while.

• • White pus appears in the eyes of harvested potatoes and the potatoes rot within a few days.
  • Potato blight is mainly influenced by temperature and relative humidity.  Generally, 25-30 C temperature is most favorable for this disease.

What is The Best Treatment For Potato Blight?

It’s An Integrated Pest Management (IPM) System.

• • Seed potatoes should be cleaned before planting. It is very important. For seed treatment, Fungicides like  iprodione should be mixed at the rate of 2 grams per kg of seeds.

  • In the case of seed potatoes, if 1 plant per acre is infected, seed potatoes can never be harvested from that field.

  • Use disease-free seeds.

  • Remove and burn affected plants.

• • Apply bleaching powder 2.6 kg per bigha to the field 20-25 days before planting potatoes.

  • Apply a moderate irrigation system.
    

• • Water irrigation should be stopped if disease occurs.

• • Collection of healthy and disease-free seeds from certified or disease-free areas.

• • Avoid planting cut seeds.

• • Apply stable bleaching powder at the rate of 20-25 kg per hectare before the last tillage in the field while planting potatoes.

• • As soon as possible after sowing, remove the soil at the base of the plant.

• • Dispose of the affected plants and the surrounding soil with potato quickly and apply bleaching powder to the affected area. If irrigation is required, irrigate except the affected part.

• • Do not cultivate potato, tomato, brinjal, pepper, tobacco, etc. in the affected land.

• • Adopting a cropping phase with crops like wheat, rice, maize, cow, barley, sorghum, onion, garlic, coppice, carrot, etc.  Intercropping with maize in seed potato fields reduces bacterial attacks.

• • During the summer, the soil should be dried by plowing the land several times in the hot sun, which reduces the diseases present in the soil.

• • Irrigation, weeding, mulching, etc. should be stopped in the affected land as soon as this disease is seen.

• • Before planting potatoes, if there is rice on the land, dry it, spread it on the ground, and burn it.
  • Never grow seed potatoes in soil that is constantly wet or damp.

Conclusion:

By following all the guidelines discussed above the treatment and management of the disease, can be easily prevented. If you have already found signs of infection in your crops, it is essential to remove infected plants immediately. The best treatment for potato blight is prevention! Contact us if you have any questions about this disease after reading the article. You can send samples of any crop problem to our expert team, which will be resolved within 24 hours.