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Potato bug not a concern for Alberta producers this year

August 16, 2017, Lethbridge, Alta. – Alberta’s potato industry is worth more than $1 billion to our economy. But it’s threatened by a tiny bacterium

This year, a Lethbridge scientist reports, it hasn’t shown up.

“That’s good news,” says Dan Johnson, a biogeography professor at the University of Lethbridge. He explains the bacteria are linked with zebra chip disease – already affecting crops in the U.S., Mexico and New Zealand. It turned up as early as May in Idaho this year.

Potatoes infected by the bacteria develop unsightly black lines when they’re fried, making them unfit for sale. The bacteria are carried by an insect, the potato psyllid. READ MORE