FREDERICTON –
The group representing potato farmers on Prince Edward Island says its members need solutions rapidly from Ottawa on the choice to droop all shipments of contemporary potatoes from the Island to the US.
Prince Edward Island Potato Board normal supervisor Greg Donald says farmers had been shocked to be taught Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau ordered the commerce restriction after the latest discovery of potato wart in two P.E.I. fields.
The fungal parasite spreads by means of the motion of contaminated potatoes, soil and farm gear, and it poses no menace to human well being however can tremendously lower the yield of potato crops and may go away potatoes disfigured.
Donald stated in an interview Tuesday that farmers on the Island have been coping with the fungus since 2000, including that guidelines created by the federal authorities have prevented any unfold from the province to the U.S.
Canadian officers say they had been pressured by the U.S. to impose the restriction, and Donald says he desires to know what had modified to steer the U.S. to behave that means.
Donald says P.E.I. usually ships about $2 million value of potatoes to the U.S. every week, including that except a decision may be discovered rapidly, losses will rise and good potatoes can be destroyed.
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed Nov. 24, 2021.
13:25ET 24-11-21
