Obscure Purple Potato Resists Blight Naturally
An obscure purple potato presented to British officials by two Scottish enthusiasts--so obscure that it has no name--may help to cure the outbreak of potato blight that is threatening some crops in Europe. The purple potato, originally from Hungary, appears to be resistant to all fungal diseases and grows well in low-nutrient soils, ecologist Carlo Leifert of the University of Newcastle said last week. The potato could be useful to farmers because the European Union recently banned the primary line of defense against blight, the use of copper-based fungicides, in organic farming.
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Compiled by Times medical writer Thomas H. Maugh II
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