Potato blight hits farms in south west

Kerry: Teagasc has recorded the first outbreaks of potato blight this year on farms in the south west. Blight hit Kerry on April 28 and spread to Cork on May 18.

Potato blight specialist Dr Leslie Dowley with Teagasc said the average date of outbreak of blight for main crop potatoes is in the latter half of July.

The Teagasc recording system tracks the initial outbreak of the disease in the different potato growing areas with the aim of helping growers to implement effective blight control programmes.