Potato agronomists have warned of the high risk that seed stocks planted this season will be carrying blight infection. Growers must therefore be ready to act early to prevent an explosion of early blight foci in the crop.

Syngenta potato manager, Garth Bretherton said: 'Even with rigorous seed screening, growers still have to assume the risk of blight is inherently high. To minimise the risk of blight from seed tuber sources developing in the crop, growers should use the highly systemic blight fungicide Fubol Gold through the crucial stages of rapid canopy development.' This year, with the high threat of seed borne blight, Bretheron advises an early start to the Fubol Gold protection. 'Timing of the first application is crucial. You need to get the protection in place before there are any visible signs of blight on the leaf or stems - if it gets to that stage it is almost too late.' For growers that have traditionally used a three-way blight fungicide mix such as Riposte, or where blight pressure is recognised to be extremely high, the addition of C50 (cymoxinil) with Fubol Gold will create an effective systemic three way mix.