Rising to the challenge
Crop declines and testing of new varieties will be among top priorities for the country’s first cranberry research centre.
By Judie Steeves C
ranberry growers are excited about receipt of the first funding towards getting Canada’s first Cranberry Research Centre built in Delta. The $203,000 investment from Western Economic Diversification will allow the B.C. Cranberry Research Society to begin building the bogs, reservoir and dyking for the new facility, said society president Todd May of Richmond.
“It’s timely because of concern about the challenges we’re facing in the industry,” he commented. He says declining crop levels on B.C. farms is one of the issues the centre will look into, along with testing new varieties developed at such centres as Rutgers University in New Jersey—under local conditions—to assess which ones might be the best to plant here.
The funding will be matched by growers through a levy
on production so it will be equally distributed. It will be collected by the B.C. Cranberry Marketing Commission. However, May said more funding will be needed to complete the facility, which he estimated will cost in the area of $1.5 to $2 million.
That won’t be going into fancy buildings, but will allow growers to build cranberry bogs on about 15 acres of the 20-acre site the society purchased this year from the provincial government, with financing through Farm Credit Canada.
Infrastructure will include some simple buildings to keep some equipment in, as well as a construction trailer or something like that for workers.
There could also be a greenhouse in which to do some propagation, said May.
He is hopeful construction of dykes, levelling, installation of irrigation and drainage could be completed by the end of 2012 or the beginning of 2013 so planting could begin in the spring of 2013.
Plants take four or five years to reach maturity so it will be some time before variety trials will begin to yield any results.
At present, May said they don’t have a list of varieties they’d like to try out, but it would be helpful to have a facility where they can try out new varieties for growing habits and cropping under local conditions, evaluating
British Columbia Berry Grower • Winter 2011-12 11
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