Summary
Temperature and rainfall amount and frequency data from Bluffton, Hungtington, Washington, Princeton and Shoals, Indiana were analyzed in relation to the occurrence of late blight in northern and southern Indiana for the period 1915 through 1951.
Highly significant differences between group means were obtained for the northern Indiana rainfall amount slopes. The southern Indiana slope means were not significantly different.
The means of the slopes of the cumulative rainfall frequency lines were significantly different for southern but not northern Indiana.
A ‘critical’ slope for the cumulative amount and frequency of rainfall was computed as the slope midway between the means of the severe- and no-blight year groups.
Four combinations of temperature and rainfall were employed to formulate hypothetical late blight forecasts for northern and southern Indiana.
The greatest percentage of accurate forescasts for both sections of the state was obtained from the use of the combination of weekly mean temperature 75° F. or less and cumulative rainfall equal to or greater than the critical slope. However, all forecasts for northern and southern Indiana were only 65 and 67 per cent accurate, respectively.
In both sections of the state the no-blight years were predicted with the greatest accuracy by all temperature-rainfall combinations.
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Journal paper No. 708 of the Purdue Agricultural Experimental Station, Lafayette, Indiana, Project 595. Report of a study conducted under the Research and Marketing Act of 1946. The investigation was conducted cooperatively between the Purdue Agricultural Experiment Station and the Division of Mycology and Disease Survey, Bureau of Plant Industry, Soils, and Agricultural Engineering, United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C.
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Wallin, J.R., Samson, R.W. The relation of cumulative amount and frequency of rainfall and mean temperature to late blight in Indiana. American Potato Journal 30, 262–270 (1953). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02860004
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02860004