Potato Blight Hits Alaska

Blight kills plants quickly, and can rot potatos even in storage.

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By Sean Doogan

Story Created: Sep 2, 2011 at 2:05 PM AKDT

Story Updated: Sep 5, 2011 at 9:27 AM AKDT

The plant disease responsible for the Irish potato famine has sprung up in Alaska.

Late Blight, a fungus that attacks both potato and tomato plants, is common in the Lower 48 and was recently discovered at two Alaska farms - one in the Mat-Su Valley and another near Delta Junction.

Blight kills plants quickly, and can rot potatos even in storage.

It's also extremely contagious, which is why the affected farmers are working with the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service to eradicate the fungus.

While Alaska winters kill the disease in most plants, UAF officials said they're not taking any chances.

"Fortunately, it's been well dealt with," said Steven Brown, district agriculture agent with UAF. "Our concern is making sure that any of the late blight didn't escape into gardeners' home gardens and become the source of future contamination."

In order to avoid the blight next year, botanists recommend planting only Alaska certified seeds and seed potatoes.

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jjj said on Monday, Sep 5 at 5:11 PM

My apologies, my comment LOL was wrong. I don't say that very often, but this time you are correct. Almost all of my comments attack the criminal government, this is a serious alaskan problem that I do care about. I'll do better.

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compuuuter said on Saturday, Sep 3 at 8:44 AM

i'm not going to "bug" jjj but other 2 are right, not funny. as the guy said in the movie, it's "beetleheaded".

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Andrew said on Saturday, Sep 3 at 7:03 AM

This is a serious thing here people dont understand! We need those few crops we produce here and Id like to see more. Lots of hope on those people at the univesity to help out with this. I hope they can also come up with a way we can grow pther crops here!

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Kevin S said on Friday, Sep 2 at 8:48 PM

how about, follow the suggested procedures and get rid of it. Your LOL is out of place. The comment wasn't funny.

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jjj said on Friday, Sep 2 at 7:42 PM

HURRY!!! PANIC!!!! WE NEED THE GOVERMENT!!! LOL!

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