Potato Ring Rot in Norway: Occurrence and Control

Abstract

Potato ring rot, caused by the bacterium Clavibacter michiganensis subspecies sepedonicus, is considered to be one of the internationally most important seed potato diseases (Smith et al.; Eur J Plant Pathol 107:739–748, 2001) and has been a problem in Norwegian potato production since its first detection in 1964. Since 1965, Norway has had its own national legislation for the control of the disease. In recent years, this legislation has evolved to be more similar to the EU Commission Directive 2006/56/EC. In 1999, the Norwegian Food Safety Authority initiated an eradication program for potato ring rot with the aim of selling potatoes to other European countries. During the project period (1999–2008), efficient systems for sampling, analysis and eradication measures were built. From 1999 to 2002, the occurrence of potato ring rot in commercial potato production was monitored in all counties. Sampling was carried out according to the instructions of the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, while testing of samples was (from 2000 onwards) carried out by Bioforsk laboratories with modern serological and molecular detection methods. When ring rot was detected in a potato lot, the grower had to implement strict eradication measures. The survey was followed up with two monitoring periods, 2003–2004 and 2005–2008. During the project period, 328 cases of potato ring rot were found. The counties Hedmark, Nordland, Troms, and Trondelag accounted for most of these. The main objectives of this study were to describe the occurrence of potato ring rot in Norwegian potato production and to evaluate the effectiveness of the eradication measures employed for the control of the disease. This survey showed that the overall ring rot situation did improve considerably during the project period (1999–2008), both in relation to prior periods, and when comparing the surveying and monitoring periods. Problem areas where monitoring must be continued remain.