LATE BLIGHT OF POTATO CAUSED BY PHYTOPHTHORA INFESTANS AND ITS INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT
Crop Improvement
If you grow potatoes in your garden, a single cool, wet week in summer is all it takes for late blight to turn a healthy crop to black mush within days — and the pathogen is evolving resistance to the fungicides growers rely on.
A sneaky, fast-moving plant disease called late blight can wipe out an entire potato crop in just days under the right weather conditions. It's caused by a pathogen that's not quite a fungus but acts like one, spreading through the air and thriving in wet, cool weather. Scientists are working on combining old-school farming practices with new tools like disease forecasting and resistant potato varieties to keep it in check.
Key Findings
Late blight can cause yield losses of 70–100% in severely affected regions like Karnataka, India, and averages 10–15% losses across India as a whole.
Sub-Saharan Africa (44%), Latin America and the Caribbean (36%), and Southeast Asia (35%) face the highest regional yield losses from late blight globally.
The pathogen's ability to reproduce both sexually and asexually, combined with rapid adaptation to fungicides, makes integrated management — combining biological, chemical, and cultural controls — essential for sustainable potato production.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Late blight, caused by the water mold Phytophthora infestans, is the most destructive potato disease in the world — the same pathogen behind the 1840s Irish Famine. This review covers how the pathogen works, how it spreads, and the integrated strategies farmers and researchers use to manage it sustainably.
Abstract Preview
The potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is a cornerstone of global food security, ranking as the world's fourth-largest food crop after maize, wheat, and rice. Its high carbohydrate content, primarily as...
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