Activities

The Potato Alert Service offers up to date forecasts of the infection and advice for treatments. The tool starts with a map of the country where the farmers can see two forecasts: risk of infection and infection pressure. The risk is calculated based on the weather conditions, as the fungus is likely to spread with warm and humid weather (optimum is 20ºC, 80% air humidity), therefore it predicts potential outbreaks and the starting of the treatments. On the other hand, the infection pressure is calculated based on the risk of the past days, and it helps to decide on the spraying intervals for the subsequent treatments to control the disease. Therefore the map gives and indication of the infection pressure and the frequency of the treatment required. This can vary between every 14 days (when pressure is very low) to every 7 days in case of very high pressure.



The service also offers additional information and advice about complementary practices that help to diminish the risk of infection (such as the control of weeds, fertilisation and waterlogging, or crop rotations) and provides indications for both chemical and biological control of the fungus.

Additional information

The Potato Alert Service is provided by the Austrian Chamber of Agriculture in cooperation with the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences of Vienna (BOKU) and other organisations, such as the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Security (AGES), the Information System Integrated Plant Production (ISIP) and Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics (ZAMG).