Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, Holetta Agricultural Research Centre, P.O. Box 2003, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Research Article
Current status of bacterial wilt (Ralstonia solanacearum) disease in major seed potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) growing areas of Ethiopia
Author(s): Lemma Tessema*, Ebrahim Seid, Gebremedhin Woldegiorgis and Kalpana Sharma
On-site assessment and detection of plant diseases is a prerequisite to inspect the health status of seed potatoes and to make cost-effective disease management decisions. The present study was conducted in 60 major seed potato producing cooperatives of Ethiopia to assess the extent of potato bacterial wilt disease and to generate information on current status of R. solanacearum. The field assessment and inspection survey was conducted during 2015/16 for 3 seasons in 140 potato fields covering 123.30 hectares of seed potato. Symptomatic plants were confirmed for R. solanacearum by Agri Strip kit, potassium hydroxide (KOH) test and vascular flow (VF) techniques. The results of the study indicated that out of 140 seed potato fields assessed, 26 (equivalent to 18.57%) or some 33.3% of seed cooperatives were infested by bacterial wilt. The highest disease incidence (82.5.. View more»