The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) accepted 60,563 acres of seed potatoes for certification for the 2021 growing season, the Dec. 15 issue of the North American Potato Market News (NAPM) says. This is 1,054 acres more than the 2020 seed area, a 6.5 per cent jump.
The growth was distributed across yellow, red and russet table potato varieties with processing varieties rising slightly. The report notes the largest increase was for the HO2000 variety, which jumped by 990 acres.
Prince Edward Island had 17,253 acres of seed potatoes certified, the report says. This is 1,054 acres more than the 2020 seed area — a 6.5 per cent increase. The Eva potato variety had the most acres, beating out Russet Burbank.
“CFIA has suspended all movement of P.E.I. seed potatoes to the U.S. and other provinces due to potato wart. Unless the government relaxes the seed quarantine, some of P.E.I.’s seed potatoes will need to be diverted to other uses.”
In New Brunswick, CFIA accepted 6,775 acres of seed potatoes, down 0.4 per cent from the 2020 crop. The report notes the Russet Burbank seed area grew to 2,514 acres.
U.S. Seed Potato Acreage
In the United States 106,651 acres of seed potatoes were accepted for certification, the report says. This is 5,787 acres more than the 2020, a 5.7 per cent increase.
The increase was driven by a 7.8 per cent rise in Russet table potato varieties. The report note seed area for red and yellow varieties increased by 5.3 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively. However, seed area for frying and chip varieties was flat.
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