P.E.I. potato growers up for AgriRecovery aid

Potato growers on Prince Edward Island affected by "extreme wet weather"can now share up to $12.4 million in federal/provincial aid through the AgriRecovery program.

AgriRecovery, one of the programs under the federal government's Growing Forward ag policy framework, is meant to help governments address gaps not covered by existing programs and respond quickly to natural disasters.

"This program is in response to requests from the potato industry which is facing serious losses due to acreages which cannot be harvested and which face the risk of rot in storages,"said P.E.I. Agriculture Minister Neil LeClair in a release Wednesday.

"The program will help producers make timely decisions on the management of their crop,"he said.

Federal and provincial officials have indicated, following visits to the affected areas, that damage looks to be "approximately 10 times more severe than in previous years,"the province said.