The situation feared last winter has indeed come true. The 2024 season has started with very high phytophthora pressure in potatoes in Europe. At the end of May, the European organization Copa-Cogeca already called for an EU action plan for phytophthora. That starts with the introduction of new crop protection products.
A lesson in history quickly teaches people how harmful phytophthora can be. The current situation may not be as dire as during the Irish famine in the nineteenth century, but the agricultural sector is warning of the disastrous effects that 'phytophthora infestans' can have on potato crops. According to Copa-Cogeca, this disease costs the sector €900 million annually.
EU action plan
On International Potato Day, May 28, the organization called for the launch of a Europe-wide action plan to combat phytophthora. With the arrival of new mutations, aggressive strains can quickly develop in a crop, leaving growers who stick to their standard spray schedule disappointed. In the Netherlands, the Taskforce phytophthora is also calling on growers and the entire potato sector to do everything they can to combat the dreaded disease.
It is now available in many places in the Netherlands phytophthora found it. The disease pressure is high due to the presence of a lot of potato storage and a latent infection in the seed potatoes, which has caused plants to suddenly become ill. Potato growers are on top of it with the field sprayer and have already driven through the crop several times early in the season. It is especially exciting for early-planted potatoes.
Mold strikes
In Germany, advocacy group DBV and potato organization Unika are also calling on people to stay on top of things when it comes to phytophthora. Growers there also have to contend with very high disease pressure. A combination of humid and warm weather is ideal for the disease to spread. In Poland, the IOR-PIB research institute reports a very early attack on potatoes. That is about two to three weeks earlier than usual. This despite a long dry period. Thunderstorms with lots of rain, in combination with high temperatures, have created ideal conditions for the fungus. Damage caused by the Colorado potato beetle is also reported.
European potato production - and therefore the entire chain - is threatened by phytophthora, says Copa-Cogeca. This is mainly due to the lack of properly functioning crop protection products. Especially after resistance has developed against two important active substances in recent years. "The grower's toolbox needs to be filled again," says Olaf Feuerborn of Unika. "It is up to all parties in the chain to ensure this.
New resources required
Copa-Cogeca adds that both short and long-term measures are needed to safeguard the European harvest. Consider more research into remedies and resistant varieties, the genes of which have now often been broken through. It calls for not banning existing products and for working hard on broadly effective fungicides that can combat the rapidly evolving fungus. Growers can also do something themselves by covering waste heaps, combating potato storage and trying to work as cleanly as possible.