Province offers to buy P.E.I. potato wart index fields, take them out of agricultural production

Prince Edward Island is launching a new program that makes money available to buy fields where potato wart has been confirmed in the past. 

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has designated 37 sites across the Island as index fields — or areas where the soilborne fungus that causes the disfiguring disease has been identified even once. 

"This announcement is something that has been supported by growers on P.E.I.," said Greg Donald, the general manager of the P.E.I. Potato Board. 

"It's an additional layer that gives full assurance that there will be no risk from this disease." 

Land that is sold to the province through the buy-back program will not be farmed again, but could be used for "trees, energy solutions and preservation," a spokesperson for the government said in an email statement.

It will also contribute to the province's goal of protecting seven per cent of P.E.I.'s land, the email said. 

The government would not say how much money is being set aside for the fund, with the spokesperson calling it "a demand-driven program... Purchasing the land will be conducted through an independent appraisal that fairly represents the market."

Land owners wanting to sell their index land are being told to apply through the province's webpage.

Even in cases where the affected land area in the index field is small, the entire field has to be put out of commission and removed from agricultural production to eliminate further spread, Donald said. 

"The main risk pathway with this organism is soil," he said. 

Potato wart was first discovered on P.E.I. in 2000, and then again in 2021. Although the fungus poses no health risk to humans, it leaves potatoes distorted by warts and makes them unmarketable. 

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency banned fresh P.E.I. table potatoes from being sold into the United States for four months after it was found in the province in the fall of 2021. Some farmers with excess product were forced to destroy millions of pounds of their crop, and the sale of seed potatoes into the U.S. remains banned. 

The provincial response to the 2021 potato wart crisis can be looked to as a model for dealing with plant health issues, Donald said. 

"The message to our customers… whether here on P.E.I. or across Canada or around the world, is that if you're going to do business with P.E.I., P.E.I. potatoes, you're going to get exactly what you need, when you need it," he said.