Early blight is widespread in most areas where potatoes (and tomatoes) are grown, with higher prevalence in tropical and temperate areas, and in production areas under irrigation. In South Africa, potatoes are grown in 14 main regions on more than 53 000ha, yielding an annual crop in the range of 2,5 million tons in 2019.
It is estimated that early blight infections can cause yield losses ranging from 20% on average to 60% in extreme cases. At an estimated average yield of 50t/ha, a 20% loss equals a thousand 10kg pockets, which translates into a financial loss of as much as R40 000 per hectare.
Spread of early blight
The primary inoculation in a season originates from mycelium or conidia that overwintered in infected plant debris, tubers, soil or host plants from other species in the Solani family. Being polycyclic, the pathogen can achieve many infection cycles in a season, but the disease needs free water, primarily on the leaf surface, to cause infection and reproduce.
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