Editing Potato (section)

=== Changes in pests and diseases ===

[[File:Kartoffelkäferlarven.jpg |thumb|upright|Plant destroyed by [[Colorado potato beetle]] (''Leptinotarsa decemlineata'') larvae]]

Climate change is predicted to affect many potato pests and diseases. These include:

* Insect pests such as the [[potato tuber moth]] and [[Colorado potato beetle]], which are predicted to spread into areas currently too cold for them.<ref name="supply"/>
* [[Aphids]] which act as vectors for many potato viruses and will spread under increased temperatures.<ref>{{cite web |title=Potato Research Priorities in Asia and the Pacific Region |url=http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/i0200e/I0200E08.htm |access-date=7 November 2012 |publisher=FAO |last=Pandey |first=S.K.}}</ref>
* Pathogens causing potato blackleg disease (e.g. [[Dickeya]]) grow and reproduce faster at higher temperatures.<ref>{{cite web |title=Why is Dickeya spp. (syn. Erwinia chrysanthemi) taking over? The ecology of a blackleg pathogen |url=http://www.knpv.org/db/upload/documents/Pests%20and%20climate%20change/van_der_Wolf_KNPV3_dec_2008.pdf |access-date=7 November 2012 |last=Czajkowski |first=R.}}</ref>
* Bacterial infections such as [[Ralstonia solanacearum]] will benefit from higher temperatures and spread more easily through flash flooding.<ref name="supply"/>
* [[Late blight]] benefits from higher temperatures and wetter conditions.<ref>{{cite web |title=Implications for a warmer, wetter world on the late blight pathogen: How CIP efforts can reduce risk for low-input potato farmers |url=http://www.icrisat.org/journal/SpecialProject/sp4.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110105075912/http://www.icrisat.org/journal/SpecialProject/sp4.pdf |archive-date=5 January 2011 |access-date=7 November 2012 |publisher=CIP |last=Forbes |first=G.A.}}</ref> Late blight is predicted to become a greater threat in some areas (e.g. in Finland)<ref name="supply"/> and become a lesser threat in others (e.g. in the United Kingdom).<ref name="UK"/>