News on The Potato Supply Chain from Canada

New numbers from the P.E.I. Potato Board show that on Prince Edward Island the acreage of cover crops grown before potatoes has doubled.

The 2023 Canadian Produce Marketing Association Convention and Trade Show (CPMA 2023) held last week in Toronto is CPMA’s biggest show in its history with over 4200 people attending the event.

In 2014, Charlottetown-based research scientist Bourlaye Fofana was looking for a way to make plant products healthier by adding the antioxidant selenium.

The World Potato Congress Inc. is now calling for proposals from parties interested in hosting the 14th World Potato Congress to be held in 2028.

At the Annual General Meeting on March 13th, CEO of Kroeker Farms in Manitoba, Wayne Rempel was elected as the new Chair of the United Potato Growers of Canada (UPGC) after serving several years as the Secretary.

AgriShield®, a comprehensive risk assessment and planning tool created by Farm Management Canada, is the first and only Canadian risk management platform that meets the Farm Sustainability Assessment (FSA) standards at the highest level – GOLD.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has completed its 2022 national survey for potato wart and confirms that potato wart was not detected in the soil samples tested from the fields where the samples were collected.

Ontario Potato Board, Potatoes New Brunswick join the United Potato Growers of Canada (UPGC) as the representative of their potato grower members, giving the organisation a truly national reach.

To help offset rising food costs, four farms on Prince Edward Island are opening their potato storages to Islanders. Visitors are invited to help themselves and pick unwashed potatoes directly from the pile in storage. The event occurs Saturday, March 11th, from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm.

The PEI potato industry welcomed the final report of the International Advisory Panel (IAP) on Potato Wart that was presented to industry and government on January 16, 2023.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) scientists have discovered that selenium, a micronutrient and anti-oxidant activates genes in potatoes that boosts the plant's immunity and helps in the prevention of late blight.

The governments of Canada and Manitoba are investing CAD 98,970 (USD 74,193) through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP) to upgrade the University of Manitoba's Horticulture Storage Facility so it can conduct innovative potato research

Total Canadian Potato Storage Holdings on January 11, 2023 are down slightly (-0.4%) over 2022 numbers for the same period, but are still 5.84% above the 3-yr. average, mostly due to the increased size of the crop in the last two years.

Potato Week, presented by Peak of the Market Ltd., is back for a fifth year of delicious dishes featuring Manitoba-grown potatoes.

As John Griffin retires, World Potato Congress announces new leadership: Peter VanderZaag as President and CEO, Nora Olsen as Vice President and Brian Douglas as Director.

In 2020, HZPC Americas launched the multi-year project 'Potato Glory' together with the University of Massachusetts Dining Program (UMass) for the purpose of conducting research

Julio Kalazich will be the speaker at the first World Potato Congress webinar of 2023 on January 24, 2023 at 9:00 am ET. He will address Potato Breeding in the South American Countries Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay in English followed by the presentation in Spanish at 10:00 am ET.

Statistics Canada has estimated Canadian Potato Production in 2022 to be 122,970,000 hundred weight, up 0.8% over 2021. Despite a very cold and wet spring delaying planting and very hot