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Federal investment to help Atlantic potato industry

NEWS HIGHLIGHT

Federal investment to help Atlantic potato industry
The federal government is
investing 5.3 million dollars in a BioPotato Network that will work to develop
and harness new markets for potato farmers.

February 24, 2009, Fredericton, NB – The federal government is investing $5.3 million in a BioPotato Network that will work to develop and harness new markets for potato farmers.

The network will focus on five areas: value-added uses for the potato, health and pharmaceutical products, dietary properties, potato-based plastics and insect control. This research will help generate new jobs for Canadians, create new health benefits for Canadians, and produce a new generation of more environmentally-friendly plastics.
 
Across Canada, the potato industry is worth nearly $6 billion to the national economy and creates more than 30,000 jobs, mostly in rural areas. In 2008, Atlantic Canadian farmers produced more than 1.7 million tonnes of potatoes.
 
Funding for this three-year project is being provided through Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Agricultural Bioproducts Innovation Program (ABIP), a federal funding program designed to integrate Canada’s talent from universities, industry and government in order to stimulate creativity, leverage resources, reduce costs and accelerate progress towards commercialization of bioproducts and bioprocesses.