Board general manager Greg Donald of the Prince Edward Island Potato Board says he has mixed feelings about the $28 million earmarked in the new federal budget to help the region’s potato farming sector.
Donald said he's still looking for details about the funding, but he said any help is welcome after a disastrous fall and winter. "It's bittersweet because this has been so hard, on costly expenses and on people's nerves," Donald said last Friday. "And it never should have happened."
The federal budget tabled Thursday earmarks $16 million over two years for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, through the national Jobs and Growth Fund, aimed at investments in the potato sector. Another $12 million is set aside for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to accelerate its investigation into the latest detection of potato wart.
Seed potatoes, which account for about 10 per cent of the Island's annual output, are still banned from the U.S. until the outcome of a more thorough review by American authorities. There is also a Canadian ban on seed potato shipments to other provinces. "That's where we have a lot of work left to do," Donald added.
Source: atlantic.ctvnews.ca