Webinar: Identification of the spotted potato, purple tip, and the potato psyllid

To date, the presence of the insect known as “potato psilid” ( Bactericera cockerelli ) vector of ' Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum' has been reported in Ecuador and Colombia , causing the disease called “zebra chip ” or “spotted potato”.Similarly, the disease known as "purple tip", caused by phytoplasmas, has been reported in the department of Nariño in Colombia (IICA, 2021) and in the provinces of Loja (AGROCALIDAD, 2020) and Carchi (Castillo, 2019 ) in Ecuador.

These diseases can cause significant losses in yield and quality because they are very difficult to detect and control. In these circumstances, countries where pests are not present should intensify their surveillance and training actions to avoid, detect, control and contain these emerging pests.

The webinar aims to make known to professionals, technicians and farmers the characteristics of the "potato psyllid" as well as the symptoms of "spotted potato" and "purple tip", using three training manuals that will be presented.

With the development of the seminar, it is sought that the countries in which these pests are not reported have materials that allow them to establish phytosanitary surveillance measures in a coordinated manner between national plant health agencies, private companies, academia and farmers.

This seminar is organized by the International Potato Center (CIP) as part of the Regional Technical Committee for the Prevention and Control of Emerging Pests in Potato.