PEOPLE NEWS
P.E.I. Potato Board Elects New Executive
The Prince Edward Island Potato Board elected new executive during its board of directors meeting in December. Alex Docherty of Elmwood, P.E.I. was re-elected for a second year as board chair, while the new vice-chair of the board is Rodney Dingwell of Morell, P.E.I. The third member of the board’s executive committee is Darryl Wallace of Cascumpec, P.E.I., who was elected secretary-treasurer.
New Appointment at Sorting Systems Manufacturer
TOMRA Sorting Food has a new global service director. The leading food sorting systems manufacturer has appointed Andreas Reddemann, who has extensive experience of creating and implementing worldwide customer service strategies, to the new position. At TOMRA Sorting Food, Reddemann will develop the company’s customer care offer in existing and developing markets including Asia, Africa and Latin America. He will also lead a team of 200-customer service personnel currently located across the company’s service centers.
PRODUCT NEWS
P.E.I. Potato Industry Launches New Brand Designs
Following significant market research and rounds of development and consultation, the P.E.I. Potato Board has unveiled a new logo and new packaging designs aimed at further strengthening the Prince Edward Island Potatoes brand. The new logo blends historic brand identity cues, such as the shape of the Island and the familiar red and blue colours, with a modern look. According to potato board, the new logo serves as a consistent identifier of PEI Potatoes across both new industry packaging and private label packaging, and also serves as the new corporate logo for the board.
New Electronic Clod Separator Unveiled
Prinsen Agricultural & Handling Solutions, a Dutch company specializing in post-harvest processing technology with offices in Canada, has added a new machine to its product lineup. It’s a new electronic stone and clod separator called the Agrisep, which can be used for used for both unwashed and washed potatoes as well as other vegetables like onions or carrots. According to Frank Prinsen, international account manager at Prinsen, “The Agrisep works based on infrared light, measuring the humidity of the objects on the supply belt. That way, it distinguishes between organic and inorganic material [and] the clods and stones among the potatoes … are sorted in a product-friendly manner.”
BUSINESS NEWS
Manitoba Processing Plant Receives Government Funding
In January, Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay and Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development Minister Ron Kostyshyn announced an investment of nearly $380,000 for the McCain Foods potato processing plant in Carberry, Man. The investment is aimed at increasing efficiency, reducing waste and supporting the sustainable growth of Manitoba’s potato industry. The governments’ investment, provided under Manitoba’s Growing Forward 2 – Growing Value program, will be used to install new and innovative equipment at the Carberry facility.
INDUSTRY NEWS
Revised Potato Disinfection Program in P.E.I.
The Prince Edward Island Potato Board has a new plan for potato disinfection on Prince Edward Island. This revised program was formed through collaboration with industry members and the Prince Edward Island Department of Agriculture and Fisheries as well as through independent scientific consultation. The board stated in a December media release that it believes that this plan meets the needs of potato farmers and addresses concerns voiced after previously announced changes to the potato disinfection program.
Fusarium Resistance on the Rise
Fusarium infections in potatoes are common, but more strains are showing resistance to fungicides, according to Mike Harding, a plant pathologist at Alberta Agriculture’s Crop Development Centre. “Resistance management is an important piece to consider when making plans about how we are going to manage fusarium,” Harding told producers who gathered for the Potato Growers of Alberta’s annual potato conference held in Red Deer, Alta. in November. “Fusarium is well adapted to survive in Alberta. It is not going away and it has been here longer than we have,” Harding said. He added there is no single way to control the disease, so growers need to use as many best management practices as they can to keep it from destroying an entire crop.
Late Blight Resistant GM Potatoes Show Promise
Results from early trials of genetically modified potatoes conducted by the International Potato Center (CIP) show great promise in the global quest to tame late blight, the scourge of smallholder potato farmers and large producers globally. CIP researchers have tested three genes from several wild potato relatives, and preliminary results have shown them to be late blight resistant. “The GM approach is much faster than conventional breeding,” which can take decades, explains CIP program leader Greg Forbes. “In theory, [late blight resistant] genes could be incorporated into breeding materials with conventional breeding, but the time and cost are both much greater.”
Irrigation Method Reduces Potato Water Requirements
University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) researchers have found an irrigation method that uses half the amount of water than traditional systems to grow potatoes. The system is called hybrid centre pivot irrigation. With this method, about two-thirds of the water used to help grow potatoes is sprayed from above ground, similar to natural rainfall, and about one-third comes from under the ground – a traditional method known as “seepage irrigation.” The UF/IFAS researchers who tested the impact of hybrid centre pivot irrigation on soil moisture and temperature at a private potato farm says the method resulted in water savings of approximately 55 per cent.
Grant to Improve Potato Production in Asia
Michigan State University researchers have received a $5.8 million federal grant to improve potato production in Bangladesh and Indonesia. The East Lansing, Mich. school is leading a project funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development through its Feed the Future program. Michigan State works with the University of Minnesota, Idaho-based J.R. Simplot Co. and organizations in those countries to produce potatoes that can adapt to extreme weather and pests. Researchers say they are assessing the validity of genetically engineered potatoes to develop the most sustainable kinds. They also seek to resist the late blight pathogen that caused the Irish potato famine and still damages crops worldwide.
Half of Potato Harvest Lost from Field to Fork
On the way from field to fork, more than half of the potato harvest is lost. This is according to a recent study conducted by researchers from Agroscope and ETH Zurich. According to scientific surveys in Switzerland, 300 kilograms of perfectly good food ends up in the garbage per person each year. However, this number encompasses the entire shopping basket, from yogurt to drinkable leftover wine and two-day-old bread. The new study reported in the journal Waste Management identifies one product that is discarded disproportionately often: the potato. The report notes that from the field to the home, 53 per cent of conventionally produced table potatoes are wasted, and this figure rises to 55 per cent for those produced organically. For processing potatoes, the figures are lower: 41 per cent of organic potatoes are discarded, compared to 46 per cent of those from conventional production.
Submissions to Industry News are welcome. Email Spud Smart editor Mark Halsall at [email protected].
