The P.E.I. Potato Board is wooing an old friend in an effort to create new business opportunities for Island farmers.
The board is hosting a delegation of industry leaders from Algeria.
The Algerian delegation is in the province now. They are planning to tour the Potato Quality Institute, Harrington Research Farm and the Elite Seed Farm in Fox Island, near Alberton.
Up until the mid-1990s, P.E.I. shipped millions of pounds of potatoes to the African country. That peaked in 1994 when the Island shipped more than 200 million pounds of table and seed potatoes.
But improved potato production in Europe, which is geographically closer, and increased shipping costs caused P.E.I. to fall out of favour with Algeria.
In 2007, only eight million pounds of potatoes were shipped to Algeria and since then it’s almost non-existent.
But Greg Donald, general manager of the P.E.I. Potato Board, is confident the relationship between the two jurisdictions can be rekindled.
The P.E.I. Potato Board was in Algeria last fall.
“We have a history with Algeria,” Donald told The Guardian.
“With the evolution of the industry and the growth in Algeria and the need for different varieties, they’re looking back to the past and they know they can get good quality seed from here and they are looking at P.E.I. as an opportunity again.”
Holland has turned out to be P.E.I.’s biggest competitor. Holland has been supplying about 60 per cent of Algeria’s seed potatoes. They are also getting seed potatoes from France and Belgium.
Abdelouahab Kaouache, a representative of Algeria’s potato industry, said he’s in the province to learn and exchange knowledge.
We know that P.E.I. is the leading province in the potato sector - Abdelouahab Kaouache, a representative of Algeria’s potato industry.
“We know that P.E.I. is the leading province in the potato sector,” Kaouache said, speaking through an interpreter.
“We hope to establish ties between Algerian and P.E.I. producers and find opportunities between both countries.”
Kaouache is particularly interested in the different varieties of potatoes grown on the Island. There are few varieties approved for planting in his country.
Trade is big business between the two countries.
Billions of dollars in trade is carried out between Canada and Algeria every year.
While P.E.I. can’t do much about the distance between the two jurisdictions, Donald said there are a couple of pluses in P.E.I.’s corner.
“With seed, quality is number one,” said Donald, adding the Island’s cold weather kills off a lot of the pests and problems that plague seed potatoes in other jurisdictions.
“Variety is also important. I think we can offer seed that is better quality than those other countries and also offer perhaps some other varieties that we use here that they can’t.”
Algeria Quick Facts
Official Title, Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria
Capital, Algiers
Total Area, 2,381,740 square kilometres
Population, 35 million
Languages, Arabic (official), French and Berber dialects
Source: international.gc.ca
