1

Early and Late Blight of Potato

Dr. Hari Prakash Yadav

Assistant Professor
Department of Botany
Siddharth University, Kapilvastu
 EARLY BLIGHT OF POTATO

• The name of the disease is because of the infection on potato crop taking place in earlier part of growing season.
• The disease is worldwide in distribution.
• In India, when the disease is severe it may lead to almost 40% loss of yield in potato crops.
• Besides potato other members of family Solanaceae such as tomato, cabbage, Chili, brinjal, cauliflower etc. and a number
of wild species of plants act as Collateral hostsfor the fungal pathogen.

SYMPTOMS
• Being an early infecting pathogen, the symptoms of the disease start appearingwhen the plant is 3 weeks old.
• The leaves which are near the ground first show small circular or irregular dark brown to black spots.
• The peculiar characteristicof these pots is the presence of concentric rings which give it a target board like appearance.
• These spots later enlarge in size and adjacent is spots coalesce to form large angular sports.
• The symptoms later also develop on the petiole and stem in the form of elongated brown to black lesions.
• In the advanced stage of growing season numerous lesions appear on the upper leaves.
• The leaves drop - a case of premature leaf senescence.
• Tubers also show symptoms in form of dark and sunken lesions on the surface which are circular or irregular in shape. If cut
open, the tubers show dry corky texture with dark brown colour inside.
 CAUSAL ORGANISM:
Alternaria Solani
 Mycelium of the fungus is branched,
septate and grows both inter and
intracellularly through the host tissue.
 Haustoria are absent.
 Each cell of the hypha is
usually multinucleate.
 At maturity the mycelium
produces conidiophores.
 Conidiophores emerge through stomata
or dead epidermal cells.
 Conidiophores are short, dark coloured,
aerial, septate and little curved at the
tip.
 Conidia are produced at the tip of
conidiophoreseither singly or in chain.
 Each conidium is beaked, bottle shaped,
obclavate (club shaped), muriform
(having horizontal and vertical septa -
dictyospore).
 DISEASE
CYCLE
• The fungus survives on the plant debris left in the
field on decaying potato tubers or on some
collateral host such as tomato or some wild
species of family Solanaceae.
• The primary inoculum which is usually in the
form of a mycelium or a spore, disseminates
through the agency of wind or rain splash or
irrigation water and reaches the host leaf surface
where it germinates and brings about primary
infection.
• After the fungus establishes itself inside the host
tissue the stage of secondary infection starts.
• In this stage, the pathogen producers conidia on
the surface of the leaves.
• Conidia are produced in large numbers.
• They are disseminated by wind, splashes of
rainwater or irrigation water and reach other
healthy potato plants where they cause
secondary infection.
CONTROL MEASURES:
Proper fertilization, irrigation and management of pests through various means.

Cultural Practices:
• Crop rotation
• Field sanitation
• Growing late sowing varieties
• Diseased plant parts should be destroyed completely by burning.

Chemical Pesticides:
• Fungicides should be use in justified manner and only when symptoms appear.
• Example of fungicides : Copper fungicides such as maneb, mancozeb, Zineb (Dithane Z-78), Blitox-50 (.25%), Captan,
Bordeaux mixture etc.

Biocontrol:
Fungal species Trichoderma harzianum and T. viride are used as bio fungicide.
 LATE BLIGHT OF POTATO

• A very serious and important disease of potato which can result in total destruction of potato crop in a
short period of time.
• Losses due to this disease can reach up to 80% in years of epidemic.
• It was the cause of the infamous Irish Famine which occurred during 1843-45. About a million people lost
their lives and an equal number migrated to USA and other countries due to the epiphytotic disease.
• In India it was first recorded in 1870-80 in Nilgiri hills. Now occurs in many states such as U.P. Punjab, W.B.,
Karnataka, Uttarakhand etc.

SYMPTOMS:
• Late blight of potato appears in the fields only after blossoming period.
• Above ground parts of the plant body are infected initially but later on the infection spreads in the tubers
also.
• Symptoms appear first on the surface of leaves in the form of dark brown or black coloured small patches.
• Under favourable Seasons the spots gradually increase and occupy almost entire surface of the leaf.
• The sporangia are formed on the lower side of the leaf as powdery mass surrounded by a distinct border
thus producing blight.
• The blight represents the rapid death of
the cells which later on get transformed
into dark brown to black lesions giving
burnt appearance.
• Under severe conditions these spots also
appear on stems.
• Under warm and humid conditions the
spots change their colour and stems also
get infected.
• The infected Tuber gives the smell of
decaying vegetable matters.
• It is remarkable feature of this disease.
• The skin of tubers become soft sunken
and dark in colour.
CAUSAL ORGANISM : Phytophthora
infestans
Division ………….Mycota
Sub-division …………Eumycota
Class………………….Oomycetes
Order…………….Peronosporales
Family……………Pythiaceae
Genus…………….. Phytophthora
Species……………. Infestans
• Mycelium is tubular,
hyaline, irregularly
branched, aseptate
and coenocytic.
• Hyphae may be
intracellular or
intercellular.
• The intercellular
hyphae develop
globular, finger or
club-shaped
haustoria inside the
neighbouring host
cells.
•
DISEASE CYCLE:

• Infected tubers are the primary source of inoculum in India.

• The use of cold storage for storing potatoes and the fast means of transportation of seed materials from
hilly regions to plains has lead to rapid spread of disease.
• Crop residue is the source of primary infection in hilly areas. This is not possible in plains due to the
high temperatures.
• When infected tubers (in which fungal mycelium is present) is used as seed material and is sown, the plant
which arises gets infected.
• The fungal mycelium grows systemically with the growing seedling.
• Lower leaves first show symptoms.
• Secondary infection takes place from spores produced on primary infected parts.
• Spores in form of zoospores (INDIRECT GERMINATION) or sporangia behaving as conidia (DIRECT
GERMINATION) serve as secondary inoculum.
• Secondary inoculum reaches healthy plants through the agency of wind, rain, irrigation water or
insects.
Disease cycle:
CONTROL MEASURES:

• Only healthy tubers should be selected and used as seed material.

• Before sowing the tubers should be immersed in 1: 1000 mercuric chloride solution for 90 minutes.
• Bordeaux mixture (copper sulphate: lime : water = 4:4:50) is most effective fungicide to control the disease.
• Dithiocarbamatessuch as zineb, maneb etc. are now widely used to control the disease.
• Other chemical fungicides used are : copper-lime dust, zinc sulphate etc.
• Growing resistant varieties of potato such as kufri alankar, kufri moti, kufri badshah, kufri swarna, JH 232, F 5242 etc. is
another means of avoiding the disease.