Canada's seed potatoes nematode free: again

Thursday, February 17, 2011

by BETTER FARMING STAFF

For the third year in a row the Canadian Food Inspection Agency found no sign of potato cyst nematodes in its survey of the country’s seed potato production fields.

Brian Rex, acting national manager of the agency’s potato cyst nematode section, says that means seed potatoes produced in the surveyed areas will receive a green light for export. Survey results “facilitate market access for exports of Canadian seed potatoes” going to countries requiring assurance that the seed potatoes are free of the pest, he explains.

The nematode does not pose a risk to human health but is recognized internationally as a quarantined plant pest. If left unmanaged it can reduce yields in potatoes and related crops such as tomato and eggplant.

The potato cyst nematodes are microscopic wormlike organisms. Infestations are usually localize. Signs include yellowing, wilting or death of foliage and small potato tubers. In heavy infestations the cyst nematodes will be clearly visible on the plant’s roots.

The agency analyzed 43,200 soil samples and tested about 80 per cent of the Canadian seed potato production area. Seed potatoes produced on fields that haven’t been surveyed can’t be exported, Rex says.

Rex says some nematodes were found in Quebec and Alberta in 2006. Alberta, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick are Canada’s main potato seed producing provinces. In 2010, Ontario had 270 hectares of the country’s top 50 registered seed potatoes. PEI had 5,467 hectares, the most in the country. BF