Potato blight can be every bit as damaging in 2022 as it was in 1845. Blight is a devastating organism but relatively predictable as it needs specific conditions to develop during the growing season.

This week’s Tillage Edge podcast is joined by Dr Stephen Kildea, a researcher in Teagasc and Klara Finkele, Head of Agricultural Meteorology at Met Éireann, to discuss how the potato blight forecasting has developed over the past number of years and how it can help farmers in 2022.

Stephen said the extensive research and testing of the new model will give growers confidence to adjust their fungicide inputs from week to week basis while Klara points to the huge data processing capacity available and the ability to deliver the new blight predictions at a local level for a 5 day period ahead of the blight development.

For more episodes and information from the Tillage Edge podcast go to:

https://www.teagasc.ie/crops/crops/the-tillage-edge-podcast/

Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com