Syngenta, USDA Zero In On Zebra Chip

By Growing Produce Staff|October 16, 2012

USDA research entomologist Joseph Munyaneza and Kiran Shetty, Syngenta’s potato crop specialist, recently led a tour for the Syngenta potato team, demonstrating ongoing research efforts and field trial results.

Zebra chip has emerged as a new epidemic and is steadily pushing into new regions, raising concern about its potential impact on yields. A 2010 USDA field trial showed yield losses of upwards of 87%.

The speed at which a single psyllid can transmit the Liberibacter bacterium, which causes zebra chip, is disconcerting, and although zebra chip is not a threat to human health, infected potatoes become unmarketable.

The zebra chip field day included a visit to the USDA Research Facility in Wapato, WA, and a tour of field trials at the Hermiston Agricultural Research and Extension Center of Oregon State University.