back to Country Profiles

For further information on Potato Production  click here

1. Late blight occurrence and LB severity by major production area in the country. What crops were affected (tomato, potato, others)? Disease sources (seed, cull piles, volunteer plants, soil)?  

Data for 2002²

Potatoes were planted 1-2 weeks earlier than usual (end of April, beginning of May). Most of growing period was unusually dry and average temperatures were 2–3 °C higher than usual. Rainy June favored late blight development. First outbreak was recorded in 3 July in a home garden located in the central part of Estonia. Many findings were reported from central and southern regions within the next 3–4 days. In the northern part the infection started much later (24 July). Later the disease development slowed down and stopped because of high temperatures and almost no precipitation in second half of July and August. Harvest time was dry and risk for infection with tuber blight was minimal.

2. LB impact (foliar damage, yield losses, tuber rot occurrences)?

3. Fungicide use (amounts, types, etc.)?

Data for 2002²

Despite the lower infection pressure, the fungicide input was higher than in 2001. The number of treatments was the same as in 2001 (3–5) but they were used on a larger scale, namely on 10,100 ha in 2002 compared to 7300 ha in 2001. Approximately half of the potato acreage is not treated. The main strategy consists of two treatments with (locally) systemic fungicides (metalaxyl, propamocarb, dimethomorph) followed by two treatments with a contact fungicide (mancozeb, fluazinam, metiram).

4. Other LB control measures (resistant cultivars, forecast systems, none)?

One major task in the European Network for development of an Integrated Control Strategy of potato late blight (EU.NET.ICP) was to discuss the possibilities of exportation and adaptation of existing late blight decision support systems (DSS) between countries to avoid duplication of efforts. Two Danish systems aimed at information and decision support for the control of potato late blight (PC-NegFry and Pl@nteInfo) are currently under validation and implementation in Estonia (Koppel et al, 2003; Hansen et al, 2002, Hansen, 2000).

Since February 21, 2003, Web-blight, an international web-based information and decision support system for potato late blight is bringing day-to-day information on the first occurrences and the development of late blight in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland (http://www.web-blight.net).

5. LB control effectiveness (fungicide or host resistance failures)? 

6. Pathogen strains (mating type, fungicide resistance, virulence factors, etc)?

7. Disease risks and/or major needs?

8. Any publications on late blight in the country?  

Hansen J G, Lassen P, Koppel M, Valskyte A and Turka I. 2002. Operational use of Intenet based decision support for the control of potato late blight in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, 2001 with focus on: Late blight monitoring, forecasting and variety observation trials. pp 25–26 in Westerdijk C E and Schepers H T A M (eds), Proceedings of the Sixth Workshop of an European Network for development of an Integrated Control Strategy of potato late blight, 26–30, September 2001 , Edinburgh, Scotland, PPO-Special Report no. 8. Applied Plant Research BV, Wageningen, Netherlands.

Hansen J G. 2000. Validation and implementation of a Danish DSS for control of potato late blight in the Baltic countries. pp 117–130 in: Schepers H (ed), Proceedings of the Workshop on the European network for development of an Integrated Control Strategy of potato late blight, 29 September – 2 October 1999, Oostende, Belgium, PAV-Special Report no. 6. Applied Research for Arable Farming and Field Production of Vegetables, Lelystad, Netherlands.

Koppel M, Hansen J G, Lassen P, Turka I, Bimsteine G and Valskyte A. 2003. Implementation of the NegFry decision support system in Baltic countries in 1999–2002. pp 47–66 in: Westerdijk C E and Schepers H T A M (eds), Proceedings of the Seventh Workshop of an European Network for development of an Integrated Control Strategy of potato late blight, 2–6, October 2002 , Pozan, Poland, PPO-Special Report no. 9. Applied Plant Research BV, Wageningen, Netherlands.

Vesik E. 1996. The distribution of Phytophthora infestans in Estonia. pp 266–267 in: Abstracts of conference papers, posters and demonstrations, 13^th Triennial Conference of the EAPR, 14–19 1996, Veldhoven, The Netherlands.

9. Is tuber blight an increasing problem?

Occassionally.

Comments, additions and corrections are very welcome. Please contact us at GILB(at)cgiar.org

[2] Schepers, H T A M. 2003. The development and control of Phytophthora infestans in Europe in 2002. pp 9–22 in: Westerdijk C E and Schepers H T A M (eds), Proceedings of the Seventh Workshop of an European Network for development of an Integrated Control Strategy of potato late blight, 2–6, October 2002 , Pozan, Poland, PPO-Special Report no. 9. Applied Plant Research BV, Wageningen, Netherlands. Information regarding the late blight epidemic in 2002 in Estonia provided by M. Koppel.