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Pest Pros now offers STORECAST: Storage Potato Disease Risk Indexing, a tool to assist growers in their storage potato disease management program. Using real-time PCR methods we can determine the relative risk of disease potential in storage for pink rot, pythium, and soft rot.
Fields are sampled 1-3 weeks prior to harvest by digging a three tuber sample for each 10 acres from the interior of each field. Each sample is labeled by location and soil type allowing comparisons to field observations of rot at harvest. Only non-symptomatic tubers are sampled and tested. Results are generated and reported in about one week.
Each field site and storage bin becomes a data point providing insight into the potential for storage rots based on test result to storage outcome comparisons. Refinements in storage management can be made over time to adjust to the Storage Potato Disease Risk Index. Our testing program can be tailored to fit geographic or varietal differences and other storage pathogens may be tested. A sampling and testing program can be initiated for around $12/acre with the flexibility to increase or decrease the number of samples per field as needed. Other pathogens may be tested as required such as late blight or fusarium rot.
