Mountain View County officials are helping to educate the public about late blight disease in Alberta in an attempt to contain the potential damage it could cause to tomato and potato crops.
The county has not had any reported cases of the disease in the past few years, but Jane Fulton, manager of agricultural services with the county, said there could have been a few cases that were not reported.
“We haven't had any (cases) reported to us directly, but this isn't one of our major mandates under the agricultural service board. What we're trying to do is help with raising the awareness,” said Fulton.
Rob Spencer, a commercial horticulture specialist with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development (AARD), said the government is doing its best to blitz producers and other groups with information in order to contain the spread of the disease, which has shown up in various areas of the province over the past three growing seasons.
Prior to that, the disease hadn't seen a significant outbreak in the province in 17 years previous to 2010.
“We've pushed information out pretty far and wide throughout the industries, we're starting to push it to the public and we're starting to (educate) through the retail end of things. We expect that late blight will show up and that there will be some in the seed probably,” he said.
The disease is caused by a fungal pathogen that most commonly affects potatoes and tomatoes, but can also affect eggplants, peppers, petunias and some solanaceous weeds such as nightshade and wild tomato.
The disease develops in warm, wet areas and appears on older leaves of plants causing dark, water-soaked lesions. Lesions may also develop on plant stems and on potato tubers and tomato fruit.
Potato tubers can also be affected by spores produced on foliage, which are subsequently washed into the soil. Late blight can also spread from diseased to healthy fruit and tubers in stored tomatoes and potatoes.
“What we're trying to do is get everybody to watch the plant material that's coming in from other provinces or elsewhere, “ Spencer said.
The disease doesn't overwinter except in stored material.
Spencer said because AARD staff doesn't know the extent of the problem, the government is blanketing every segment of industry to make sure that people are aware of the significant damage it could do to crops.
The potato industry is worth just under $1 billion and the greenhouse industry is worth hundreds of millions of dollars each year in Alberta, although no reports of the disease have surfaced in greenhouses.
There are also several different strains of the disease that can attack either potatoes more aggressively than tomatoes or vice versa.
“We're trying to reach everyone to help them be aware of the potential impact on our commercial industries,” he said. “If late blight got in and moved fairly quickly through those industries, you could see a fair bit of loss.”
Treatment of the disease is done through fungicidal sprays, which Spencer said further eats into the profitability of commercial enterprises.
If late blight might be suspected, people are urged to call 310-3276 for assistance with diagnosis and management.
"We're trying to reach everyone to help them be aware of the potential impact on our commercial industries."Rob Spencercommercial horticulture specialistAARD
