Overview of research conducted in France on three important potato blemish diseases (common scab, black scurf and powdery scab)

In France, several research programs on major blemish diseases are mainly conducted at INRA with the financial support of professional organisations. The general objectives of these programs are 1) to understand the aetiology and epidemiology of the diseases, 2) to develop appropriate detection tools, and 3) to design sustainable strategies for disease control. This paper will focus on the work carried out during the past few years on common and netted scabs due to Streptomyces spp., black scurf due to Rhizoctonia solani and powdery scab due to Spongospora subterranea.