Feb 28, 2022Canadian rep suggests buying PEI potato wart fields to take them out of production
There is a push for the Prince Edward Island government to buy up fields were potato wart has been found to remove the fields from production.
On Feb. 25, Robert Henderson, a member of Canada’s Liberal Party who represents District 25, proposed using a contingency fund to buy up all the fields where potato wart has been found since 2000, a total of 33 instances. The report comes from the CBC.
A contingency plan of $15 million has been set aside by the government to help farmers hurt by the closure of exports from PEI to the U.S. after two instances of potato wart were found late last year. It also came out after the positive tests that overall monitoring of potato wart on PEI has decreased recent years.
PEI Premier Dennis King said during the hearing that he was “supportive” of taking the land out of production, but it was too early to say the fields would be purchased. More likely, he added, U.S. and Canadian officials would eventually permit tablestock potatoes from PEI return to crossing the border.
Check the CBC.ca website for the full story.
