b'We liked the city and got involved inThe most serious one is powdery scab.Wevebeendoingthatfor25years. churchesandschoolsandalloftheIts horrible and its everywhere, SecorThats been a real bonus. activities you do, Secor said. We justsaid. There is really no control for it. stayed.Weveneverwantedtoleave.Its not just us, its everywhere. Its theHe loves all ways of ways to eat pota-AndNDSUhasbeenagoodplacetobiggest challenge.toes,buthedoeshaveacoupleof work, and the potato industry has beenfavorites. very good. Weve got a strong industry.Anewdiseaseshoweditselfin2022, You get to know all the people in theSecorsays,andthatsrubberyrot.I love crunchy hashbrowns and I love industry, its just a big family.Dickeya is a new bacterial disease thatcrunchy French fries, Secor said. has been diagnosed as well.Those two Gary helps teach a pathology course atare bigfocuses for Secor now, in addi- Hesbuiltalotofrelationshipsand NDSU but his primary role as a patholo- tion to the others that commonly affectfriendshipswithgrowersandfolksin gististodiagnosediseasesanddisor- potatoes. the potato industry that he truly values.ders. Dickeyaisanewbacterialdisease.Themostrewardingthingiswhen ApathologistisreallysomeonewhoWeve done a lot of work on that andsomeonesendsusasampleandsays, dealswithsickplants,Secorsaid.trying to identify it, Secor said. what is this and what can we do about Mostpeopledontevenknowplantsit?Secorsaid.Wecananswertheir get diseases. They get diseases from bac- Garyisasought-afterspeakerandquestions, and they say, thank you so teria, fungi, viruses, nematodes. Its a bigresearcheronpotatodiseasesandhasmuch, we appreciate everything youve problem.Potatoesgetmorethan100traveled the world. One country wheredone.Its simply the appreciation the diseases.I have had some great studentshes worked extensively is Chile. Wevepersonal thanks from the growers them-and technical support people that havehadsomegoodprojectsworkingwithselves. contributed so much to our work here.potato programs in Chile, Secor said. They deserve a lot of the credit for our success.One disease that has been a big focus in potatoesforFusariumDryRot,which affects tubers in storage and seed pieces afterplanting.Symptomsofthat include dark depressions on the surface ofthetuber,andeventuallythe pathogenwillenterthecenterofthe tuber and cause it to rot.Fusarium Dry Rot is a real challenge, Secorsaid.Wecontinuetoworkon Fusarium.Secor has worked on 20 different potato diseases,includingFusariumdryrot, blackleg,lateblight,bacterialsoftrot, rhizoctoniaandblemishdisordersare among the diseases that are focused on. One that is very common, and hard to prevent, is powdery scab.FEBRUARY 2023 POTATO GROWER 15'