Strategies for Protecting Potato Crops from Key Weeds
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Looking to maximize crop quality and yield across every acre, Canadian potato growers must always keep an eye out for yield-robbing weeds.
After all, uncontrolled weeds in a potato crop can cause marketable yield loss of 30 per cent1, according to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
Impact of weeds in potato production
When left unchecked, weeds steal light, water and nutrients from healthy plants, decreasing the yield and quality of your potato crop. They can also act as a host for diseases, insects or plant parasitic nematodes, serving as a reservoir for pests within your field.2
To grow a healthy, high-yielding crop, Canadian potato growers are encouraged to implement an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategy.
Planning your weed management program
The most effective and economical weed management plan includes a mix of cultural, mechanical and herbicide weed control practices. Here are some tips to help protect your potatoes:
- Sanitize your machinery when moving from one field to another, as many weed types can be spread from field to field on cultivation equipment.
- Scout your fields to determine if new weed species are present. If possible, do not allow weed escapes to set seed.
- Pre-plant tillage can be used to control early season weeds, however, hilling is the only post planting tillage operation necessary when growing potatoes.
- Apply a post-emergent herbicide, such as Prism™ SG.
No matter what type of potato you’re growing, Prism SG herbicide can be counted on for post-emergent control of key weeds. This includes seed potatoes, early maturing varieties and, in Western Canada, irrigated potatoes.
Part of the Corteva Agriscience™ lineup of grower-focused products to manage weeds in potato crops, Prism SG provides outstanding post-emergent control of weeds such as quackgrass, redroot pigweed, barnyard grass, fall panicum, green foxtail, hairy nightshade, lamb’s-quarters (suppression), witchgrass and yellow foxtail.
For the best control, apply 60 grams/ha of Prism SG as a broadcast spray, with a recommended surfactant, to potatoes prior to initiation of flowering.
To ensure your potatoes are protected for the most yield and quality potential at harvest, contact our horticulture experts about controlling weeds with Prism SG herbicide.
1https://peipotatoagronomy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Weed-Mgmt-in-PEI-potato-production-Jan21-1.pdf
2https://www2.gnb.ca/content/dam/gnb/Departments/10/pdf/Agriculture/WeedControlPotato.pdf
