A toll-free telephone hotline offering timely information and handy tips to potato farmers is back in business on June 20.
The Potato Pest Alert Update, a project of the Prince Edward Island Department of Agriculture and Forestry, provides growers with 24-hour, code-a-phone access to potato pest and production information. The information is distributed also to Island media.
Growers across Prince Edward Island can contact the potato pest alert hotline at 1-800-658-1805. Charlottetown and area callers can reach the service at 368-5658.
Once in operation, the hotline's recorded message will be updated each Friday at noon with additional updates carried out when circumstances warrant. The telephone recording includes information of critical importance to growers such as incidents of late blight or insect infestations and insect-, weed- and disease-control strategies. The hotline can also be used to obtain telephone numbers of department specialists.
Marleen Clark, the department's plant disease diagnostician, has been gathering information for the one-stop telephone service for the past few seasons. She says the hotline continues to be appreciated by potato farmers.
"Producers seem to like it," Clark says. "It is a good service ... You are not going to get a better overview."
Information heard on the hotline is collected from field workers, crop specialists, Agriculture Canada staff and potato inspectors. The pest information hotline will provide current reports until sometime in September.
For more information, contact Marleen Clark, (902) 888-8410.