Potato Review

www.potatoreview.com POTATO REVIEW MAY/JUNE 2021 51 INTERNATIONAL NEWS PEI Potato Board presents 2021 potato industry awards The PEI Potato Board traditionally presents Potato Industry Recognition Awards at its annual banquet to recognize individuals who have made significant contributions to the industry. Three awards were presented at the board’s monthly meeting in March 2021 and they will be recognized at the banquet in 2022. The award winners for 2021 include: Peter McKenna who learned the potato business from his father Terence and Uncle John and was active on the executive of the PEI Exporters Association for years, Charles and Wilhelmina Murphy: Charles and Wilhelmina (Willie) who have farmed for more than 53 years; and Morley Wood, the fifth generation to farm the land near Albany, PEI. Morley is a founding partner of Mid-Isle Farms, a major packing shed operation in Albany. Report into processing dumping THE Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), the public service department of New Zealand, issued its interim report on Frozen Fries Investigation which revealed that processed potato dumping is an issue in New Zealand. However, it goes on to say that the problem is not bad enough to apply tari s. The report investigates European dumping of frozen processed potato into the NZ market. Potatoes NZ, the industry association representing the interests of the New Zealand potato industry, is reviewing the report and will meet with processors to determine how to act. Australia has contributed nearly half of the annual volume of imports since 2016 while latest data shows that import shares from Belgium and the Netherlands are at 11% and 18% respectively. Trials on tuber moth TWO Pukekawa trials in New Zealand are showing some early promise for potato growers when it comes to greater control of the potato tuber moth, Phthorimaea operculella (PTM). Inta-Ag has been running a trial on a potato grower’s land at Pukekawa using strawmulch to see what e ect it can have on PTM. The one hectare trial site had 10 tonne of strawmulch applied in October last year with several traps set up to catch PTM as well as TPP. Full results from the Pukekawa trial are expected when PTM damage can be fully assessed after the potato crop has been in the ground for some time but weekly visits to the trial site showed it already appeared that nightshade, potato growers’ worst weed threat, was being kept at bay. Province declared PCN-free THE Canadian province of Alberta has been deemed free of potato cyst nematode (PCN). With Alberta being the largest exporter of seed potatoes in Canada, this is a momentous occasion. The province being declared free of PCN is the result of a team e ort between an a ected farm, the Government of Alberta, Potato Growers of Alberta, Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP) programming and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). More than $200,000 in Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP) Surveillance Program funding was dedicated to restoring the disease-free status and helped cover costs for farm inputs. With fewer restrictions, growers will now be able to pursue newmarkets.