Tips on getting a perfect potato crop
Things are really steaming ahead in Shropshire with rapid crop emergence after the late start caused by a wet spring.
There will be even more pressure than usual to do squeeze everything in at the right stage, and growers will be working fast to adapt to the various challenges of the season.
If the recent warm weather continues, there could be large numbers of cereal aphids flying at a time when potato canopies are ‘catching-up’.
Aphids have the potential to cause major economic problems in most UK crops through removal of sap, transmission of viruses and direct feeding crop damage.
Our aphid news service can help growers monitor the situation. AHDB Aphid News provides regional information on aphid numbers at key times of the year. The information can be used to help time treatments better, reduce harm to beneficial insects and lower the risk of selection for insecticide resistance by reducing unnecessary or poorly timed sprays.
Regional information on aphid species and numbers across the UK is gathered through the Rothamsted/SASA suction-trap network and the FERA yellow water-pan trap network.
Sign-up to receive aphid news in your in-box each Friday.
Then there's water management
Early crops on light land already need irrigations to be planned.
Earlier this year, we updated our Seasonal Water Management Guide for Potatoes.
The guide summarises the latest research findings and based on AHDB-funded research projects and work conducted at Strategic Potato Farms by Dr Mark Stalham of NIAB CUF.
The guide is available on our website, and includes the latest advice to help growers to efficiently manage water in order to:
• Improve marketable yield
• Maximise quality and reduce defects
• Increase water use efficiency
• Reduce nutrient (particularly nitrogen), soil and water loss
Get blight alerts for Shropshire and the local area
AHDB’s newly updated Fight Against Blight website provides regional alerts based on the level of inoculum in the area and allows for users to see confirmed strains of blight as they are confirmed across the UK.
We also provide regular alerts throughout the year as the blight landscape changes. In the last 12 months, we have tracked the spread and characteristics of the EU_37 strain, through the Euro Blight and FAB networks.
This coupled with reports from British and European researchers on the strain’s insensitivity to fluaziam has helped to keep growers and agronomists informed.
You can view the latest advice from our blight network by visiting -https://potatoes.ahdb.org.uk/online-toolbox/fight-against-blight-tool
Anne Stone, AHDB Potatoes knowledge exchange manager
