PEI potato growers in Canada dread a repeat of history

Published 2021년 12월 20일

Tridge summary

Potato exports from Prince Edward Island, Canada, have been banned due to the detection of potato wart, a pathogen not seen in the U.S. since the 1970s. This has led to concerns among growers about the future of their crop, especially as they have found no alternative markets other than the U.S. The suspension of potato exports was a proactive measure by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to prevent the spread of the pathogen. The industry is now seeking solutions to maintain supply in Puerto Rico, which accounts for 25% of the PEI potato market. This situation reminds the growers of a similar potato wart scare in 2001, which resulted in the destruction of 300 million pounds of crop.

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Original content

How do you destroy a potato?You put it through a snowblower, which will chop it into lots of tiny pieces.This is not a joke, and if you are a potato grower on Canada’s Prince Edward Island, it is the diametric opposite of funny. The potatoes must be shredded in frosty conditions to make sure the pathogen is eliminated—the pathogen in this case being the potato wart, which was eradicated in the U.S. in the seventies.This dreary fate may await much of the PEI potato crop if growers cannot find adequate markets apart from the United States. It is particularly bitter for them inasmuch as this year’s estimated PEI potato crop (as of December 7) was 28,510 cwt, up 35.8 percent from the 2020 crop of 21,000 cwt.The situation started in October, when potato wart was detected on two PEI farms.On November 2, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) announced the suspension of the movement of seed potatoes from PEI to the United States. This was followed by a full suspension of all potato ...

Source: Producebluebook