Irish scientists have warned farmers to be on alert for a new aggressive strain of potato blight called "Pink 6".
Stephen Kildea of Teagasc, the agriculture and food development authority, said the new strain could not be properly controlled by some existing chemicals on the market. "The new strain has been previously found in potato crops in Donegal but so far this year, despite a number of blight warnings from the Meteorological Service, there have been no reports of it," he said. Mr Kildea said scientists here did not yet know where it had come from but were more interested in where it was going to spread.
He predicted there could be less blight in Ireland this year because of the dryer weather.
"Our best advice to farmers is to keep spraying as blight can be kept in check that way but when it is impossible to spray because of wet weather, major problems arise," he said.
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