Key takeaways:
- Board states it’s differed taking fields where the fungus is found permanently out of production.
- On Thursday, the P.E.I. Potato Board voiced its frustration to a committee of Island MLAs with concerns about the shortage of progress.
PEI potato board asks for the ease of restrictions:
The P.E.I. Potato Board states the federal government should ease the scope of a ministerial order prohibiting the movement of Island potatoes across Canada while a prohibition on exports of such potatoes to the U.S. stays in position.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency(CFIA) restricted the export of potatoes from P.E.I. on Nov. 21 in reply to American problems around the finding of potato warts in two Island fields.
On Wednesday, the CFIA met with its American counterpart, the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, as part of a common technical talk on how to find a solution to the prohibition.
Also read: P.E.I. students will not return to classrooms till at least Jan. 24
The CFIA stated among the topics that differed, it brought up the effects of a 2021 survey that saw no potato wart in over 1,000 soil samples gathered across Canada.
But there’s little sign a solution to the problem is nearer at hand, with the agency stating the survey data was not anticipated to crack the case by itself. On Thursday, the board voiced its frustration with concerns about the shortage of progress to a committee of Island MLAs.
“I don’t even know how [potato producers] plan on whether they’re going to plant this spring,” general manager Greg Donald stated. “If you’re a seed grower, you’ve lost all your markets. Do you plan to double down without knowing whether you’re going to deal with those potatoes?” Source – cbc.ca
