Potato harvest is getting closer and closer, and Manitoba potato crops are almost fully mature — plus they're in excellent shape, according to Manitoba Agriculture plant pathologist Vikram Bisht.

He says there are no cases of late blight in the province, but producers should continue scouting as cases are confirmed in Ontario, Alberta, and Wisconsin this year.

But that's not the only concern for potatoes at this time of year. Bisht says verticillium wilt is another disease that usually hits potatoes once they are close to maturity.

"This year, I've seen a fair amount of verticillium wilt," he says. "With the heat in the last few weeks, the plants gets stressed, and that's basically increased the amount of verticillium wilt showing up in fields."

Bisht says it's been too dry in some areas of the province, and irrigation may not be doing enough for the plants. He also says tight crop rotation can increase the spread of verticillium wilt. But if producers see wilted plants in their fields, it might not necessarily be a case of verticillium wilt. It could be an insect: the European corn borer.

"From a distance, the plants look like they have verticillium wilt, but if you go and examine the plants closely, you can see they have boring holes. That dries out the stem and causes something like a wilt on the plant," he says.