A Biological Control of Late Blight Disease in Irish Potatoes

This book is an adaptation of my Master of Science in Plant Pathology ( Msc) thesis that was presented at Kisii University, Kenya. Late blight disease is caused by the fungus Phytophthora infestans and is a major factor hindering Irish potato production in Kisii County, Kenya. Excessive use of inorganic fungicides and resistance of the pathogen to these common fungicides in the market call for other measures to boost soil fertility, control the disease effectively and increase crop production. The study that culminated to this book investigated the distribution of P. infestans pathogen in Irish potato varieties, the effect of vermicompost, DAP, vermiliquid soil drench and compost manure as soil amendments in increasing yield production and vermiliquid, compost tea and milthane fungicide as foliar sprays in controlling late blight disease and evaluation of the economic returns of experimental treatments.