According to Diego Flammini, Staff Writer at Farms.com, Alberta province in Western Canada could dethrone Prince Edward Island (P.E.I.) as the country’s top potato-producing region.
Flammini writes that annual spud production figures for Alberta and P.E.I. both sit around 2.23 billion pounds. This is according to a new report from ATB Financial. The report tracks potato production in both provinces since 1998 and found two significant changes.
“Alberta’s production is up 132 percent (in 20 years), while P.E.I.’s is down 18 per cent,” the report says.
“The way I look at it, for the Alberta economy, instead of trying to do one thing 100 per cent better, you do things 100 (each) one per cent better,” Harold Perry, a farmer from Chin, Alta., told the Calgary Eyeopener. “I think potatoes are falling in that category right now.”
Alberta appears to be on its way to surpassing P.E.I. as Canada’s potato heartland.
Growers in Alberta produced an average yield of 416 cwt per acre this year, United Potato Growers of Canada says. Growers in P.E.I. produced an average of 285 cwt per acre.
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