P.E.I. farmers say federal restrictions imposed to manage potato wart went too far

CHARLOTTETOWN –

Prince Edward Island potato farmers say a brand new report on potato wart reveals the 2021 resolution to halt exports to the United States went too far, and so they need remaining restrictions lifted for farms the place the soil-borne fungus has not been discovered.

The report from the International Advisory Panel on Potato Wart submitted to the federal authorities final week discovered that whereas potato wart has been recognized in clusters, most of P.E.I. is taken into account a pest-free space.

John Visser, a potato farmer and chair of the P.E.I. Potato Board, stated in an interview Monday that the panel’s report reveals that Canada’s restrictions to handle potato wart have been an “overreach.”

The fungal parasite — a illness that disfigures potatoes however poses no risk to human well being — spreads via the motion of contaminated potatoes, soil and farm tools.

Canada stopped sending the Island’s best-known export to the U.S. on Nov. 21, 2021, after the fungus was detected in just a few fields on the Island. Shipments resumed in April 2022 after the U.S. Department of Agriculture gave Island farms the all-clear.

Visser stated he and his friends have been offended by the 2021 ministerial order that stated the province was “infested” with potato wart when actually solely a “handful” of fields had the fungus.

Potato wart has been present in 36 fields out of about 10,000 farmed potato fields within the province.

The export ban is estimated to have price the trade greater than $50 million in income and compelled farmers to destroy about 115 million kilograms of potatoes, in accordance with the P.E.I. Potato Board.

Seed potatoes, which account for roughly 10 per cent of the Island’s annual potato output, are nonetheless banned from the United States pending the result of a extra thorough U.S. Department of Agriculture overview. There are additionally restrictions on their sale to different Canadian provinces.

Visser, reached at his potato farm in Victoria, P.E.I., the place he grows seed and desk potatoes, stated all restrictions must be lifted.

He stated the panel’s report confirms what he and his fellow potato farmers have been saying because the measures have been first imposed: “The pest is present, but not widely, and it is under control.”

Visser stated he is happy with the panel’s report, which comes with suggestions together with rising wart-resistant potato varieties, creating biosecurity management areas close to the fields the place potato wart was discovered and making certain a excessive customary of cleansing for farm tools.

Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau’s workplace declined a request for remark and referred inquiries to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Lynn MacVicar, the company’s director of operations in P.E.I, stated in an interview Tuesday that a lot must be completed to make sure the fungus is managed earlier than eliminating the remaining restrictions.

“It’s not an easy situation, and I know everyone wants a quick fix, but there’s a lot of work to be done, and we want to do it right,” she stated.

Gordon Henry, the inspection company’s nationwide supervisor of subject crops, stated it can possible be September earlier than evaluation of soil samples is full.

“The international panel cautioned us against moving too quickly,” Henry stated, noting that the company is on monitor to check greater than 35,000 soil samples from the Island by March.

The company can be engaged on creating an motion plan that will probably be knowledgeable by the panel’s report, present worldwide tips and suggestions from farmers throughout Canada, Henry stated. It’s not clear how lengthy this course of will take.

“For a grower in another part of Canada to be willing to accept those potatoes and plant them on their farm, they need to have confidence in the system,” he stated.

This report by The Canadian Press was first revealed Jan. 24, 2023.

— By Lyndsay Armstrong in Halifax.

This story was produced with the monetary help of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.