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Razom Invest Canada, a P.E.I.-based company headed by former Malpeque MP Wayne Easter, began teaching Ukrainians how to plant and harvest potatoes on a large scale last year.
Prince Edward Island (P.E.I.) is helping Ukraine rebuild its economy by sharing expertise in a field for which it is renowned worldwide — growing potatoes.
Razom Invest Canada, a P.E.I.-based company led by former Malpeque MP Wayne Easter, began teaching Ukrainians how to plant and harvest potatoes on a large scale last year.
Easter explained that the idea arose in 2022 at a Rebuild Ukraine conference in Toronto.
"The prime minister of Ukraine spoke there and said this: The economic front is as important as the military front for Ukraine's future, and businesses and Canadian investors need to be in Ukraine now."
Potatoes are a staple food in Ukraine, but there is currently a shortage due to the ongoing war with Russia.
“They imported something like 40 per cent of their potatoes from Belarus, and they're not on good terms [with] Belarus at the moment, so that's opened up some opportunity," Easter said in an interview with Island Morning host Mitch Cormier.”
The first crop was grown and harvested in the town of Luhyny, in western Ukraine, with equipment brought in from the Netherlands.
However, there was a challenge. Easter said they couldn't use P.E.I. seeds because of ongoing export restrictions imposed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
As a result, they were forced to buy seed potatoes from Scotland. The crop yielded results "equivalent to one of the better crops on Prince Edward Island." The harvested potatoes are now in storage and being sold into the local food supply, he said.
