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Potato bug not a concern for Alberta producers this year

August 16, 2017  By The Lethbridge Herald


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.

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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


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