P.E.I. launches buy-back program for potato wart fields

P.E.I. has launched a buy-back program for designated potato wart index fields. (Source: Facebook/Prince Edward Island Government)

Prince Edward Island is launching a buy-back program for designated potato wart index fields in the province.

Synchytrium endobioticum is a fungal pathogen and “causal agent” of the potato wart or canker disease, according to the Government of Canada. It can survive in soil for more than 40 years and is controlled through strict quarantine measures.

The potato wart was first detected on P.E.I. in 2000. It was found in Newfoundland and Labrador in 1909, but it has not been reported in any other provinces.

To regulate potato warts, the federal government will establish index fields in areas with two or more confirmed spores or symptomatic tubers.

P.E.I.’s Index Field Buy-Back program will set up a fund to purchase impacted agricultural land. The provincial government says it will preserve the purchased land.

“This buy-back program not only supports affected producers, but also strengthens our entire industry moving forward,” said Deputy Premier and Minister of Agriculture Bloyce Thompson in a news release. “Purchasing index fields has been something that we have explored at great lengths in the past, and with broadened risk mitigation measures in the new National Potato Wart Response Plan, we saw an opportunity to benefit our entire industry at a time when trade is of the utmost importance.”

In 2024, P.E.I. accounted for 20 per cent of Canada’s total potato production. That year total cash receipts for the province hit $828.13 million.

The province has 85,300 acres of land dedicated to potato production and it harvested roughly 1.17 million metric tonnes of potatoes in 2024.

The provincial government has spent more than $40 million on the Potato Wart Contingency Fund, trade relief and disinfection services since 2021, according to the news release.

For more P.E.I. news, visit our dedicated provincial page.