An infectious plant disease, the wart disease, has been found in a potato field in the municipality of Emmen. That is why the field may not be used for growing potatoes for at least twenty years. This is reported by the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority.
Seven other affected fields are located in the Groningen municipalities of Westerwolde, Stadskanaal, Midden-Groningen and Pekela. The wart disease is caused by the fungus Synchytrium endobioticum. It parasitizes living plants and causes warts to grow on the potatoes, hence the name.
Four cases were found throughout 2021, and three in 2020, all in Groningen and Drenthe as well. If a field is infected, it can take a very long time for the disease to disappear. That is why the long cultivation ban is necessary.