Training on new potato pest guide offered Tuesday

PALMER — University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service will offer a class on how to use a new potato pest field guide from 11 a.m. to 1:45 p.m., Aug. 21 at the Alaska Plant Materials in Palmer.

The University of Idaho Extension recently published “Alaska Field Guide to Potato Pests and Beneficial Insects” the guide in English and Russian because a significant number of the farm labor force speaks Russian, particularly in Delta Junction and on the Kenai Peninsula, according to Janice Chumley, an Extension research technician from Soldotna, coordinated work on the pocket-sized color field guide.

She said the guide was developed to help commercial potato growers and field workers to assist with identification of pests and for field monitoring.

Other contributors to the guide include agronomist Bill Campbell of the Alaska Plant Materials Center and Jeff Smeenk, Extension horticulture specialist.

Instructors Pam Hutchinson, a weed specialist from the University of Idaho who specializes in potatoes; Lydia Clayton, a Kenai agriculture and horticulture agent; and Chumley will teach the class. A National Institute of Food and Agriculture grant supported development of the guide.

A limited number of free copies will be available soon at Extension district offices in Fairbanks, Delta Junction, Palmer and Soldotna. Additional copies may be ordered through the University of Idaho Extension for $10.