Potato Wart and PEI Imports
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson. The National Potato Council, and 13 state potato organizations, have formally requested the USDA immediately reinstate a previous ban on fresh potato imports from the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island.
Kam Quarles, CEO at the National Potato Council, says this comes after the latest confirmed case of Potato Wart disease on PEI ...
QUARLES … “We cannot, under any circumstances, allow potato wart to get into the United States. The impact on the entirety of the U.S. potato industry from that development would be absolutely catastrophic.”
And could last, Quarles says for decades …
QUARLES … “The most difficult thing about this disease is it will lay dormant in the soil for forty years and if it comes into contact, four decades later, with host material, which is potatoes, it will be off and running again.”
And that, Quarles says would be devastating …
QUARLES … “The states that are the most, heavy fresh potato exporting states, they are going to lose their export markets overnight and likely be shut down for a period of time.”
So, the best solution …
QUARLES … “The cheapest, most effective option right now is to keep it out of the U.S. and that’s what we’ve been screaming about for five years as it has gotten larger on Prince Edward Island.”
Quarles says rapid action is needed to protect the 714,000 jobs dependent on healthy U.S. potatoes.
