Record Potato Harvest in Canada

OTTAWA - Jan 16/04 - SNS -- Canadian potato production posted a solid increase over the previous two years in 2003, totalling 5.34 million metric tons (MT), according to the latest data available from Statistics Canada.

In releasing the numbers, the federal agency said, "This release contains revisions to Saskatchewan’s 2002 yield, resulting in a 5.6% increase in their production to 3,563,000 cwts (161,600 MT). This increases Canada’s 2002 production to 103,731,000 cwts (4,705,200 MT)."

Statistics Canada said there were also revisions to three provinces’ 2003 estimates based on additional information since the November release. Quebec and Alberta had their production increased by 1.8% and 1.7% respectively, while Saskatchewan’s production was decreased by 3.7%. The net effect at the Canadian level was an increase of 0.3%. Canada’s record high production is now estimated to be 117,754,000 cwts (5,341,200 MT).

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