Canada: Harper Government invests in potato R&D

, on behalf of Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, along with Member of Parliament Mike Allen, today announced an investment of $1.83 million in a Canadian-led international research effort to give potato farmers a technological edge in predicting and preventing yield losses in their fields and in storage.

The collaborative research effort with several industry partners will be led by scientists at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's Potato Research Centre in Fredericton. Researchers from Canada, France and New Zealand will use new discoveries about potato DNA, microbial life in the soil and insect behavior to find better ways to measure the health and quality of potato plants and tubers.

This investment under Growing Forward 2 has helped leverage $821,800 in industry contributions. Project partners include BioNB, Comité Nord Plants des Pommes de Terre, Quebec-based potato operations Ferme Daniel Bolduc Inc. and Maxi-Sol Inc., Plant and Food Research New Zealand, Potatoes New Brunswick and France-based company CCL.

The research will focus on three major causes of potato yield loss: the spread of the virus PVY by aphids, potato common scab caused by a bacterial disease and a condition in storage called cold sweetening that reduces the colour quality of potatoes when they are fried.

The larger goals are to find methods to decrease diseases in the field and to have research that can be used by software and hardware developers to create hand-held diagnostic devices for potato farmers. The instruments could be used to quickly sample plants and tubers in the field and storage for a wide range of health and quality issues.

For more information:
Jeff English
Office of the Honourable Gerry Ritz
Tel: +1 613-773-1059