reduced pesticide applications for blackheaded fireworm.
In 1994, the need intensified for a minor use registration program for small-area crops, and this was initiated at Agassiz with the first Agriculture Canada employee dedicated to that program.
Projects included carrying out residue, efficacy and tolerance data collection for many field and greenhouse crops.
Projects on the use of compost for mulches and as a fertilizer have been initiated, and long-term studies on the impacts of organic
amendments/mulches and alternative water and nitrogen management practices on root diseases of perennial fruit crops are ongoing.
JUDIE STEEVES
Longtime PARC staffer and volunteer historian Victoria Brookes with a painting of the research centre’s original office building (inset, above).
developed the Totem strawberry at Agassiz. It was a staple variety in commercial production for many years and is still grown in the Fraser Valley, as well as elsewhere in the world. In 1950 the first use patterns for herbicides in strawberries were released for the local industry as well as for growers in Washington State and Oregon.
In 1962, the first report was published on the effect of specific latent viruses on vigour, yield and quality of strawberries. That research resulted in the establishment of a virus-free strawberry plant production program for B.C. In 1978, a soil biochemistry/fertility research program began and that work continues today. In recent years, the environmental implications of excessive nutrient applications have become front and centre to safeguard the natural environment.
In the late 1980s, concern about groundwater quality resulted in work on improving manure and nitrogen fertilizer management to reduce nitrate water contamination.
Some of that work resulted in development of a post nitrate test for raspberries and the pre-side-dress soil nitrate test for corn, to reduce contamination of water supplies. In partnership with 3M Canada, the Cranberry Institute, Ocean Spray Cranberries, B.C. Cranberry Growers’ Association, Wisconsin Cranberry Board and the Pacific Coast Cranberry Research Foundation, research on pheromone-based mating disruption of blackheaded fireworm was instrumental in registering the pheromone for use on cranberries in Canada and the U.S. This was the first registration of a sprayable pheromone on a food crop in Canada. Commercial use of the pheromone
10 British Columbia Berry Grower • Fall 2011
New research is underway into the benefits of composts and compost teas in the control of plant pathogens. Agassiz scientists are working on research into leafrollers on raspberries and the 14 species of parasitoids which attack them. One has the potential to provide biological control in raspberries. Beneficial beetles in berry crops have also been under investigation and aphids have been determined to be vectors of the blueberry scorch virus. Now there are thresholds and guidelines for aphid control in blueberries. Most recently, two new important berry varieties have been released, the Chemanius raspberry and the Stolo strawberry. As well, the Tulameen variety of raspberry is commonly used around the world for greenhouse berry production.
Recent changes
Brookes remembers when she first began work at the centre, in the old hort building. It had cement floors and bins in the office for mixing soil. They were little offices with wood and old arborite as a feature of the decor. The agronomy building was actually
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