Met Éireann has today (Monday, May 9) issued another status yellow warning for potato blight for parts of six counties.
The national forecaster has warned growers in Cork, Kerry, Waterford, Kilkenny, Carlow, and Wexford of weather conditions that are conductive to the spread of blight in early sown crops.
The warning came into effect at 1:00p.m today and remain in place until 9:00a.m tomorrow.
Last Friday (May 6), Met Éireann also issued a status yellow warning for potato blight for parts of Clare, Limerick, Kerry and Cork.
Blight is caused by an airborne fungus called Phytophthora Infestans. The spores germinate in humid weather, when the temperature is greater than 10°.
Potato growers are advised that the first signs of blight are yellow spots that turn black on the leaves.
Spores produced by the fungus on the infected leaves can then be washed into the soil by rain which will then rot the tubers.
Teagasc estimates that €5 million is spent annually on fungicides in Ireland to mitigate the impacts of the disease, which represents between 15-20 fungicide applications per season.
Meanwhile, Met Éireann said that weather conditions today will be blustery with rain spreading eastwards during the afternoon and lingering in the southeast until evening.
The rain will be followed by a band of showers and some will be heavy, especially in northern areas. Highest temperatures will be 13° to 17°.
Tonight will bring a mixture of clear spells and scattered showers. South to southwest winds will generally be light to moderate, but will increase fresh at times in the west and northwest. Lowest temperatures will be 7° to 11°.