Latest news with #potatowart
CBC
a day ago
- Health
- CBC
Province offers to buy P.E.I. potato wart index fields, take them out of agricultural production
Social Sharing Prince Edward Island is launching a new program that makes money available to buy fields where potato wart has been confirmed in the past. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has designated 37 sites across the Island as index fields — or areas where the soilborne fungus that causes the disfiguring disease has been identified even once. "This announcement is something that has been supported by growers on P.E.I.," said Greg Donald, the general manager of the P.E.I. Potato Board. "It's an additional layer that gives full assurance that there will be no risk from this disease." Land that is sold to the province through the buy-back program will not be farmed again, but could be used for "trees, energy solutions and preservation," a spokesperson for the government said in an email statement. It will also contribute to the province's goal of protecting seven per cent of P.E.I.'s land, the email said. The government would not say how much money is being set aside for the fund, with the spokesperson calling it "a demand-driven program... Purchasing the land will be conducted through an independent appraisal that fairly represents the market." Land owners wanting to sell their index land are being told to apply through the province's webpage. Even in cases where the affected land area in the index field is small, the entire field has to be put out of commission and removed from agricultural production to eliminate further spread, Donald said. "The main risk pathway with this organism is soil," he said. A history of market chaos Potato wart was first discovered on P.E.I. in 2000, and then again in 2021. Although the fungus poses no health risk to humans, it leaves potatoes distorted by warts and makes them unmarketable. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency banned fresh P.E.I. table potatoes from being sold into the United States for four months after it was found in the province in the fall of 2021. Some farmers with excess product were forced to destroy millions of pounds of their crop, and the sale of seed potatoes into the U.S. remains banned. The provincial response to the 2021 potato wart crisis can be looked to as a model for dealing with plant health issues, Donald said. "The message to our customers… whether here on P.E.I. or across Canada or around the world, is that if you're going to do business with P.E.I., P.E.I. potatoes, you're going to get exactly what you need, when you need it," he said. "They're going to be the safest potatoes because of how this issue has been managed and the ongoing surveillance and many layers of risk mitigation [that] have been put in place." The province recently expanded its risk mitigation measures with a new National Potato Wart Response Plan. The P.E.I. Index Field Buy-Back program will expand on investments the province has made in the Island's potato industry and help strengthen it, the government said.
CTV News
2 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
P.E.I. launches buy-back program for potato wart fields
Prince Edward Island is launching a buy-back program for designated potato wart index fields in the province. Synchytrium endobioticum is a fungal pathogen and 'causal agent' of the potato wart or canker disease, according to the Government of Canada. It can survive in soil for more than 40 years and is controlled through strict quarantine measures. The potato wart was first detected on P.E.I. in 2000. It was found in Newfoundland and Labrador in 1909, but it has not been reported in any other provinces. To regulate potato warts, the federal government will establish index fields in areas with two or more confirmed spores or symptomatic tubers. P.E.I.'s Index Field Buy-Back program will set up a fund to purchase impacted agricultural land. The provincial government says it will preserve the purchased land. 'This buy-back program not only supports affected producers, but also strengthens our entire industry moving forward,' said Deputy Premier and Minister of Agriculture Bloyce Thompson in a news release. 'Purchasing index fields has been something that we have explored at great lengths in the past, and with broadened risk mitigation measures in the new National Potato Wart Response Plan, we saw an opportunity to benefit our entire industry at a time when trade is of the utmost importance.' In 2024, P.E.I. accounted for 20 per cent of Canada's total potato production. That year total cash receipts for the province hit $828.13 million. The province has 85,300 acres of land dedicated to potato production and it harvested roughly 1.17 million metric tonnes of potatoes in 2024. The provincial government has spent more than $40 million on the Potato Wart Contingency Fund, trade relief and disinfection services since 2021, according to the news release. For more P.E.I. news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
