Though its still a bit early to garden, the Alaska Division of Agriculture reminds retail store managers to be cautious of out of state seed potatoes and tomato plants which could be infected with Late Blight Disease.
We spoke with Mia Kirk, an agricultural inspector for the Alaska Department of Natural Resources who says they try to remind retailers every year of the guidelines in order to keep blight out of the state as much as possible.
Kirk: “One thing we can’t monitor is people who order through seed catalogs. I’m talking for potatoes because tomato seeds are not at risk, the actual seedlings are. So just to be aware that there are requirements, ya know if you’re going to bring in seed potatoes or tomato plants.”
Some of the guidelines for potatoes are that they are produced as certified seed potatoes wherever they were grown, inspected in storage with no blight found, and inspected at the shipping point.
Tomato plants that are imported from outside Alaska should also be inspected at the nursery where they were grown and the shipping point, and treated prior to shipment with a registered fungicide for blight.
Blight shows up as brown withered spots on the leaves and fruit portions of the plants and was responsible for the Irish potato famine in the mid-nineteenth century.
A list of certified potato growers is located on the Alaska Division of Agriculture website.