Okanagan soils.


“Soils can also be improved by using amendments such as biosolids produced at landfill sites,” said Neilsen, who helped to develop provincial guidelines for their production. Neilsen is probably best known for his work on fertigation primarily done on apples and cherries but also some on grapes. “Denise and I have done a lot of work on how much fertilizer to put on and when to do it.”


Work conducted by Neilsen and others has greatly reduced the economic impact of replant disease. He explained that the overuse of nitrogen fertilizers decreased the already low pH of the sandy soil found in the Okanagan and led to such problems as stunted trees and bark blistering.


These problems were especially noticeable upon replanting. “The solution is to disc in fine grain lime, preferably before replant.” Neilsen is quick to acknowledge the extensive help from growers who are often the first to see the long range payoff of an idea and are willing to help in any way they can.


“I couldn't have done the work without their help. I often got so busy I didn't say thank you often enough.” Neilsen's work has provided him with the opportunity for extensive travel. “A great thing about pomology is that it's a high value crop in many countries that are nice to visit. It's always interesting to meet people who are making a living in agriculture.” Neilsen’s travels have taken him to countries in South America, Africa, Asia and Europe.


This fall he accepted an invitation to visit the Pomology Research Institute in the Liaoning Province of China, where he spent a week touring orchards and speaking to research scientists. Over the years, numerous visiting scientists from around the world, several dozen graduate students and more than 100 summer students have worked in Neilsen's laboratory. “One of the things that has impressed me most about Gerry is his ability to bring people with divergent talents into his circle of collaborators and foster cross-fertilization of ideas,” Forge said. “In so doing, he tied together much of the research conducted at PARC over the past quarter century or more, and he undoubtedly influenced many other tree-fruit research programs around the


British Columbia FRUIT GROWER • Winter 2015-16 13


world.”


Looking to the future, Neilsen sees the major challenges to be maintaining soil health and developing ways such as better irrigation methods to buffer orchards against climate change. “What about pulsed irrigation? What's the future of high density sweet cherries,” he mused. To increase Canadian


competitiveness in foreign markets, Neilsen suggests playing 'the green card'.


“We have a conservative approach to


controlling water and a lot of organics.” As the Chinese market opens to Canadian sweet cherries and transport by container ship becomes more common, Neilsen thinks it is essential to produce fruit with the proper nutrition to withstand refrigerated conditions. Reflecting on his career in an earlier interview, Neilsen said,“It's been interesting and challenging — the euphoria of discovering something new, the gratification of helping growers do their job better and the opportunity to travel.”


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24