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potato blight

British  

noun

  1. a devastating disease of potatoes produced by the oomycete Phytophthora infestans and the cause of the Irish potato famine of the mid-19th century

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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Multiple factors caused the famine, including the potato blight that destroyed the main source of food, and the political and socioeconomic circumstances of British colonial rule.

From BBC May 22, 2026

Even 175 years after Ireland's devastating famine caused by an introduced potato blight, we're still struggling to combat these diseases.

From Salon May 31, 2023

Von Hippel begins with efforts to tackle the causes of potato blight, which triggered the Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s, and vector-borne diseases such as malaria, yellow fever and typhus.

From Nature Aug. 30, 2020

One species Phytophthora infestans causes the potato blight, which led to the Irish potato famine.

From Textbooks Jan. 1, 2015

Out in the vegetable area there were first cutworms and then drought and potato blight to be contended with.

From The Idyl of Twin Fires by Eaton, Walter Prichard

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