The first outbreaks of potato blight have been reported, as the wet weather looks set to continue disrupting farming activities.
The cases were recorded on farms in counties Wexford and Cork. Growers there fear the blight may spread to main-crop potatoes because of weather conditions.
Dr Leslie Dowley, potato blight research specialist with Teagasc, the agriculture and food development authority, said yesterday the average date of outbreak of blight for main crop potatoes was in the latter half of July.
However, he said, disease outbreak can be much earlier for crops in the south of the country.
"Once blight has made its initial appearance, the further development of an epidemic is dependent on the control programme, variety, growth stage and the prevailing weather conditions," he added. Growers are concerned about the spread of the disease because they have been unable to spray their crops for the past three weeks.
Farmers need at least two dry days for spraying potatoes because rain washes the spray off crops, rendering the exercise useless. All potato-growing areas are being monitored by inspectors of the Department of Agriculture and Food as well as specialist potato advisers in Teagasc.
When potato blight is identified in an area, the information is entered on a map so the location and date of the outbreak is obvious at a glance.
As new outbreaks emerge, Dr Dowley and his colleagues at the Oak Park research centre in Carlow update the map.
The map is available on the Teagasc website at www.teagasc.ie