|
Click to listen to this article
|
Prince Edward Island (PEI) this week announced a new buy-back program for fields infected with potato wart. This program targets 37 “index fields” where the disease has been detected by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).
The PEI government has allocated funds for this “demand-driven” program, allowing landowners to sell affected land based on independent appraisals. Once purchased, these lands will no longer be farmed for potatoes and could be repurposed for trees, energy solutions, or preservation. This move is part of CFIA’s broader National Potato Wart Response plan, aimed at strengthening the industry.
“Since the most recent outbreak of potato wart in PEI in 2021, NPC has been adamant that the American and Canadian governments take this issue seriously and develop comprehensive protocols to ensure the integrity of the North American potato supply,” said National Potato Council (NPC) CEO Kam Quarles. “While the buy-back program aligns with efforts to mitigate the spread of potato wart, we are concerned about the apparent voluntary nature of the program. Taking diseased fields offline should have occurred the moment of detection, not four years after the fact. These index fields are known vectors for possible disease transmission and should be banned from all forms of agricultural production.”