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06 Jul 09 - 03:29 PM (#2673121) Subject: BS: Potato famine virus back in Rhode Island From: GUEST,mg I don't have the exact link..just saw the news though...it is affecting potato and tomato farms back east. My first instinct is to panic, having been sure my whole life it would come back, like a monster in wait. But hopefully they have better ways of combating it and a wider variety of foods. They said it has to be combatted early though and will be hard for organic farmers. mg |
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06 Jul 09 - 03:53 PM (#2673149) Subject: RE: BS: Potato famine virus back in Rhode Island From: Bee-dubya-ell Link to a news article. |
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06 Jul 09 - 03:55 PM (#2673153) Subject: RE: BS: Potato famine virus back in Rhode Island From: Paul Burke Will we get Americans flooding back to Ireland in coughing ships? |
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06 Jul 09 - 04:02 PM (#2673161) Subject: RE: BS: Potato famine virus back in Rhode Island From: maeve From the Gardening thread a few days ago: Late Potato virus No problems on our Midcoast Maine farm so far. maeve |
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06 Jul 09 - 08:19 PM (#2673414) Subject: RE: BS: Potato famine virus back in Rhode Island From: maeve I'm sorry, the correct name is "Late Potato Blight". It's not a virus. Blame it on me being tired. M |
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07 Jul 09 - 05:58 AM (#2673678) Subject: RE: BS: Potato famine virus back in Rhode Island From: maeve GUEST- No reports of Late Potato Blight in Aroostook County so far as I know; nor is there any reason to panic. This is a manageable, temporary situation. Thank you for your concern. When the LP Blight hit Ireland, potatoes were the primary crop for food. The situation is much less dire today, with many different crops available for food. Management is basically hygiene through removal of infected plants and would certainly cause severe economic hardship here in Maine and in other major potato (and tomato) growing communities, but nothing like the famine that resulted in Ireland. I don't expect anyone to die as a consequence. We are fortunate to have the modern communication tools that permit us to inform one another BEFORE the problem becomes widespread. maeve |
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07 Jul 09 - 12:44 PM (#2673989) Subject: RE: BS: Potato famine virus back in Rhode Island From: robomatic one important point, though, while we obtain our calories from differing major crops, those individual crops are now much more "self-same" so that if something nasty and hard-to-combat got its hooks into a major wheat, or corn, or potato strain, it would have implications for food prices, the usual overproduction, and the fates of millions of people dependent on our crop surpluses. |
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07 Jul 09 - 02:05 PM (#2674049) Subject: RE: BS: Potato famine virus back in Rhode Island From: maeve That's correct, robomatic. That's why so many organic farmers pay special attention to crop diversification, crop rotation, soil health, healthy seed stock, intercropping, and season extenders. Small diversified farms have the potential to greatly ease local and world-wide crop failures as a result. maeve |