While hundreds of thousands of summer visitors take in Prince Edward Island beaches, golf courses, scenic attractions and learn more about its culture, another group of visitors came recently to learn more about potatoes. For the past two weeks, eight potato growers and industry representatives from Ukraine and Romania were in the province to attend a potato technology training program offered by the Department of Agriculture and Forestry and the Prince Edward Island Potato Board.
Earlier this year, Prince Edward Island made the first-ever commercial sale of seed potatoes to Ukraine, and potato trials are ongoing in a number of other eastern European countries, including Romania. These are joint projects between Solanum PEI, a department-initiated potato technology and market development company and Monsanto Corporation, the world leader in the application of biotechnology to potato production. This summer's training program provides an opportunity for grower and industry representatives in those countries who will be using Prince Edward Island seed potatoes to become familiar with potato production practices and technologies in this province. A similar training program was offered last year.
The two-week training program provided a combination of classroom sessions and field trips to potato operations. The classroom sessions, covering topics including production, plant health and financial management, were conducted by Dr. Sam Asiedu, Steve Russell and Jerzu Nowak of the Nova Scotia Agricultural College.
The field trips included a wide range of operations, including Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's research, laboratory and inspection facilities, the province's diagnostic laboratory, the Elite Seed Farm, the Potato Quality Institute, Allan Potato Machinery and exporter PEI Produce. They also visited potato farms operated by Gorrill Produce, MacPherson Brothers, Vernon Campbell, Mette and Gordon Ching and Arthur Mooney and Son.
Rory Francis, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, said one of the objectives of the training program is to provide growers in other countries the practical skills they need to improve their production and management practices. "The response of the participants to the training program was very positive in that they have become more familiar with the state-of-the-art practices and technologies used by the potato industry in this province," said Mr. Francis. "Programs such as these further our objective of exporting high quality seed, including customized varieties of genetically-improved seed, along with the related knowledge and technologies associated with potato production, handling, storage and marketing."
Ivan Noonan, General Manager of the Potato Board, says that there is a growing demand for both high quality seed and the support systems to ensure successful production. "No longer is it a matter of just selling potatoes," he said. "We need to understand our customers' growing conditions and follow up with services and supports."
The potato technology training program will be offered again next year.