Web based decision support system to control late blight of potato

摘要

The common cultivated varieties of potato in Punjab like Kufri Pukhraj, Kufri Chandramukhi etc. have no resistance against the late blight disease, so farmers usually have to apply fungicides to protect the crop.Late blight is one of the serious disease of the potato. If the disease appears before the formation of potato tubers, there is the reduction in yield to the extent of 80-90 per cent. This disease is known to appear in moderate to severe form every yearin the districts of Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, SBS Nagar, Kapurthala and Ropar, but there is low to moderate incidence of disease in the districts of Ludhiana, Patiala, Fatehgarh Sahib, Moga and Sangrur. Normally north western districts like Bathinda, Faridkot and Ferozpur remain free from the attack of this disease. Generally symptoms of late blight appears in the first or second week of November, at that time the main crop of the seed potato is just 40-50 days old. The common cultivated varieties of potato in Punjab like Kufri Pukhraj, Kufri Chandramukhi etc have no resistance against the disease, so farmers usually have to apply fungicides to protect the crop. Following factors favour the annual reoccurrence of this disease in Punjab.