The potato wart was detected last week in a field on Prince Edward Island, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has confirmed.
It was discovered in a field adjacent to one where the potato wart was detected in October 2021, prompting CFIA to ban US potato shipments in November 2021.
Shipments of table potatoes resumed in April, but seed potatoes, which account for about 10 percent of the island’s annual production, are still banned in the United States and the rest of Canada, in pending the outcome of a more thorough investigation.
“Last week, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency laboratory in Charlottetown detected the presence of potato wart in a field as part of its ongoing investigations related to detections in October 2021 and February 2022,” a CFIA spokesperson said in a statement to CBC.
“The detection was from a field adjacent to one where the potato wart was detected in October 2021. The field is owned by a farm that produces processing potatoes for use in PEI”
CFIA collected more than 17,000 soil samples from March 5 to June 30, and testing of these samples continues. Finding a case of potato wart was not unexpected during the investigation, the agency said.
“This finding shows that the research process works and is an important part of ensuring the health of our crops and protecting access to export markets. We will update this finding on our website as part of our quarterly updates with next update in October 2022. .”