It had proven effective against the original strain, but Metalaxyl was impotent in the face of later forms of the Type A1 fungus as well as Type A2 strains. Some international researchers maintain that Metalaxyl, sold under the trade names Rindomil, Apron, Subdue and Acylon, accidentally but inevitably, created the more aggressive disease by forcing the fungus to mutate around the chemical for its own survival. The worry now is that fear of the new strains will push governments to accept still more potent chemicals contributing to a cycle of toxics and disease that will only threaten humanity further. There are also grounds for questioning the breeding strategies of both public and private institutions. The first resistance gene stayed in the ring 6 years but by the time breeders released the sixth resistance gene the crop could barely survive a season.
Breeders now agree that single-gene resistance was a bad idea.
But then, the problem was, and still is, only in part caused by P. infestans . Historians could well argue that the havoc wrecked in the 1840s was not caused so much by P. infestans as by private investment and the marketplace. Historians concur that there was never a food shortage in Ireland. The hungry had no control over this haemorrhaging of food stocks abroad. The land tenure system, taxation, and the mercantile theories of the time were what killed people Remarkable little seems to have changed over time.