By Bill Fry
This presentation will help consultants, practitioner, and growers to understand late blight forecasts and to more manage late blight more effectively. First, the epidemiological basis for (potato) late blight forecasts is described. In the potato production system in most temperate regions where sexual reproduction does not occur, survival from one season to the next is in association with an infected host (typically potato tubers). Most forecasts allow a period of time early in the season before which fungicide sprays are not necessary and the presentation describes the most popular systems in the USA. The presentation then describes a Decision Support System (DSS) that can be used in “real time” as an aid in scheduling fungicide sprays. The DSS integrates the effect of weather, host resistance and fungicide to assure adequate disease suppression.
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