Global potato researches gather to find solutions for blackleg disease

Researchers from all over the world were in Bangor, Wales for the '2017 Dickeya and Pectobacterium Summit', organised by the University of Maine Extension.

They are trying to find a way to stop the blackleg potato disease which threatens the potato industry.

Steven Johnson, Maine cooperative extnsion professor said "This is not an emerging problem. This is an existing one we are trying to get ahead of."

Maine's potato crop brings a lot of money to the state and provides a livelihood for many growers. All of that could be threatened because of bacteria that causes blackleg disease. 

Steven Johnson said "The pathogen will rot the seed. The plant does not come up so it produces nothing.”

“It may rot the tuber in the field. It may produce 20 to 80 percent less yield in the field. It may rot the potatoes in storage."