Farm Credit Canada (FCC) is offering support to customers in Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick whose potato crops were impacted by an unusually wet, cold fall, causing a loss in revenue. Potatoes need to be dry and not too cold to be harvested without the risk of damage, and there were very few days in October and November where conditions were right. This followed an extremely challenging growing season, mired by…
When you think of China, do you think of potatoes? Maybe not, but in the Loess Plateau region of northwestern China, potato is the main food crop. Even though it is such an important crop there, potato yields are lower than they could be. The area has a dry climate with uneven precipitation. Droughts are common, especially in the spring when crops are just starting to emerge. If soil moisture was more…
In Algeria, the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries Abdelkader Bouazghi said Saturday, Dec. 8 in Guelma: “Algeria will stop the import of potato seeds in 2021.” In a statement to the press at the farm Richi Abdelmadjid in the commune of Belkheir, the minister indicated that this farm has “greatly”succeeded in the technical mastery of the production in quantities of seed potatoes of first generation (G1) allowing the production of second…
UK potato production has hit its lowest level since 2012 and the fourth smallest since 1960, down by 13% on the five-year average of 5.6m tonnes at 4.9m tonnes. The relatively low production figure is a result of an estimated 4.4% drop in planted area, and a 12% drop in average yield. The crop was heavily impacted by a combination of late planting and the prolonged hot and dry weather that stalled tuber…
Polyploid plants are limitedly amenable to breeding and genetic engineering and editing because of difficulties in segregation and purifying genes of interest into a single line. Thus, such plants are usually clonally propagated. Nevertheless, efforts on proving the applicability of the genome editing technology have been applied in such plants, especially in potato, the third most important food crop after rice and wheat. Researcher David Douches from Michigan State University and colleagues report on the latest efforts on potato genome editing…
Montague, P.E.I., Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada — Canada’s recent Fall Economic Statement 2018 showed that the Government’s plan is working: more Canadians are employed, wages are growing, and middle-class Canadians have more money to save, invest and grow the economy. The Government of Canada knows that Canadian farmers and food processors are key drivers of the Canadian economy. The Statement is the next step in our plan, where we are supporting Canada’s competitiveness so that…
Brussels, November 22, 2018—Earlier this month, Breeders Trust revealed a major fraud, concerning the switching of at least 200 tons of potatoes meant for consumption, to seed potatoes. Seed Company Mts. H. te Luttelgeest (the Netherlands) was caught red-handed when adding the yield from a lot of consumption potatoes to a lot of seed potatoes. Breeders Trust had been monitoring a potato field for months, after it had been established this summer,…
November 20, 2018 – Ottawa, Ontario – Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Canadian farmers and food processors across the country work hard every day to put safe, high-quality food on our tables, while driving our economy and creating good, middle-class jobs. Farming can provide an amazing lifestyle with great rewards, but it can also be hard on mental health. Farmers and their families often face high levels of stress because of forces that…
Portage la Prairie, MB, November 26, 2018 – McCain Foods (Canada) announced today infrastructure investments totalling $75 million for its Portage la Prairie and Carberry, Man., facilities. The investments further strengthen the company’s potato processing presence in Western Canada. “Our investments at both the Portage la Prairie and Carberry facilities are testaments to McCain’s ongoing commitment to growers, employees and the communities in which we operate in Manitoba,” said Jeff DeLapp, president,…
The total consumption potato harvest in four of the five major potato producing countries in the EU is estimated at least 20 per cent lower than last year and under 20 million tons brut. This estimation is made by the NEPG (North-Western European Potato Growers). As the yields figures for Great Britain are not yet available, this estimated harvest is only based upon continental Europe. For Great Britain, the final results will…