How to Treat Potato Diseases

The potato is the potato we commonly eat, a member of the Solanaceae family and an annual herbaceous plant. It is the fourth most important food crop in the world. Potatoes are grown over a very wide range, with major producing countries including China, Russia, India, Ukraine, the United States and others. So then how should diseases that occur during potato cultivation be treated?

I. Treatment of Potato Diseases

The main potato diseases include late blight, viral disease, and ring rot. After a potato develops a disease, the type of disease must be determined according to the specific symptoms, and targeted measures should be taken for treatment. Do not use pesticides at random.

Potato late blight, commonly known as “fire wind”, is an important disease in potato production. It occurs commonly in potato-growing regions of our country, and in epidemic years it often causes a 20% to 40% reduction in yield. The main symptom is the appearance of round or semicircular dark green or dark brown large spots at the leaf tip or leaf margin, with indistinct edges. When air humidity is high, the spots expand rapidly and can spread to most of the leaf or even the entire leaf. The main control method is spraying with mancozeb · flumorph powder at 500-800 times dilution, 50% tebuconazole at 600 times dilution, and 64% oxadixyl at 400-500 times dilution.

Potato viral disease is also called potato degeneration disease. It occurs commonly throughout the country and causes serious harm. It leads to stunted plants, deformity, and reduced yield. The main manifestations are abnormal mosaic development, smaller leaves or the appearance of dark brown necrotic streaks, and stunted plants. There is currently no effective chemical treatment for potato viral disease; generally, virus-free seed potatoes are used for planting, and improved cultivation measures are adopted for prevention.

Potato ring rot is a bacterial vascular bundle disease. Its main symptoms are wilting of the aboveground parts of the plant and ring-shaped rotting along the tuber vascular bundles in the underground parts. In the field it often causes dead plants and rotting tubers, reducing yield and quality. During storage it can also cause cellar rot. There is currently no effective chemical treatment for potato ring rot; generally, disease-resistant varieties are used before planting, disease-free seed production fields are established, and whole-tuber planting is adopted as much as possible.

The above is about the prevention and control of potato diseases. When planting potatoes, the best measure is to select disease-resistant varieties before planting and strengthen field management to reduce the frequency of disease occurrence.