Protect Your Potatoes Quiz Quiz

Sharpen your understanding of effective strategies for controlling potato diseases and keeping crops healthy. Explore key methods and principles to manage threats and prevent yield loss.

1. Identifying Late Blight Symptoms

   Which of the following symptoms is most characteristic of late blight in potato plants?

   1. Water-soaked, dark lesions on leaves and stems
   2. Powdery white spots on leaf undersides
   3. Swollen tubers with cracks
   4. Yellowing of lower leaves only

   Explanation: Water-soaked, dark lesions spreading on leaves and stems are a hallmark of late blight. Yellowing of lower leaves often signals nutrient deficiency, not late blight. Swollen tubers with cracks point to physiological disorders like irregular watering. Powdery white spots suggest powdery mildew, not late blight.

2. Cultural Control Methods

   Which agricultural practice can help reduce the risk of potato diseases like common scab?

   1. Skipping hilling altogether
   2. Deep irrigation every week
   3. Planting potatoes in the same field every year
   4. Rotating potatoes with non-host crops

   Explanation: Crop rotation with non-hosts reduces disease buildup in soil by breaking pest and pathogen cycles. Planting in the same field annually increases risk of disease. Deep irrigation can worsen some soil-borne diseases, and not hilling reduces tuber protection and increases exposure.

3. Chemical Control Timing

   When is the best time to apply preventative fungicides against potato late blight?

   1. After harvesting all tubers
   2. Only when plants begin flowering
   3. Before disease is visible, especially during moist conditions
   4. Only if symptoms are widespread

   Explanation: Preventative applications are most effective before symptoms appear and when the weather favors disease. Applying after harvest is too late, while waiting for flowering or widespread symptoms reduces control effectiveness.

4. Resistant Varieties

   How can planting disease-resistant potato varieties benefit farmers?

   1. They reduce reliance on chemical treatments
   2. They guarantee a pest-free crop
   3. They always produce higher yields
   4. They eliminate the need for irrigation

   Explanation: Resistant varieties can lower the need for fungicides by naturally withstanding certain diseases. However, they don't guarantee pest-free or higher yield crops, and resistance doesn't replace the necessity of irrigation.

5. Sanitation Practices

   Why is it important to remove volunteer potato plants from fields?

   1. They can harbor disease pathogens between growing seasons
   2. They attract beneficial pollinators
   3. They fix nitrogen in the soil
   4. They improve soil structure

   Explanation: Volunteer potatoes may act as a reservoir for diseases, helping pathogens survive. They do not improve soil structure, attract pollinators, or fix nitrogen, which are functions of other plants like legumes.